


Of Ice And Hospitals

by Clexualz



Category: The 100 (TV), clexa - Fandom
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boxing, Clarke and Lincoln are best bros, Clarke is the sweetest to Lexa, Commander Heart Eyes, Eventual Crossovers, F/F, Falling In Love, Family, Famous!Lexa, Fluff, Humor, Idiots in Love, Lexa and Echo are best friends, Lexa is just so busy all the time, Long Distance Relationship, Love at First Sight, Mama Bear Lexa, Modern Setting, Not really though, Slow Burn, Social Media, Sofia is the best, Some angst, Sort Of, Sweetheart Clarke, Sweetheart Lexa, a lot of it, actress!lexa, almost, doctor!clarke, figure skating, honestly, loving clarke, sassy Sofia, soft lexa, there’s way too many tags, they both are sweethearts, whipped Lexa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:48:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 57,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clexualz/pseuds/Clexualz
Summary: Meet Alexandria Jasmine “Lexa” Woods, age 27: As Hollywood’s sweetheart and official legal guardian of one Sofia Woods, Lexa has to learn the hard way how to juggle with two drastically different facets of her reality. Struggling to keep up with many long hours on set while taking care of a young teenager doesn’t let her much space to even entertain the idea of a love life.Meet Sofia Brooklyn Woods, age 15: Younger and only sibling of the entertainment industry’s darling, Sofia is a determined teenager whose favourite place on Earth is on the ice. Much too clever for her older sister’s taste, Sofia’s sharp wit and acute perceptiveness is bound for trouble.Meet Clarke Griffin, age 27: Stubborn, driven and down to Earth, Clarke Griffin is one of the most promising students of her class and has everything it takes to one day be a fine doctor. With her caring heart and kind eyes, some would think it nearly impossible not to fall in love with her.When their two polar opposite worlds collide and connect in the form of a dark-haired and blue eyed 15 year old teenaged girl, what’s to happen?





	1. Here we go

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys I'm back with an exciting new project! I already have every chapters planned out and would really like it if you'd take a few minutes of your time to let me know if I should continue writing this fic. For those who would like to know what Sofia looks like, I pictured the actress Malina Weissman. I thinks she has similar features to Alycia and she fits perfectly for the character I've created.
> 
> Any grammatical or spelling errors are mine, enjoy!

“Sofia Brooklyn Woods, I swear to god if you’re not in the kitchen in five minutes I’ll-”

It was the first day of her sister’s sophomore year in high school and Lexa was late to work. They were both late and traffic would be horrible. L.A. traffic was always horrible. Vacations were officially over, but Sofia’s head was certainly still bathing in the sun and at this point, they would never leave home and Indra would have her head. _Oh god._

She couldn’t have that.

Though as she made her way upstairs to her little sister’s bedroom, heavy footsteps and a raspy, grumpy voice interrupted her, never letting her the chance to finish her sentence. _Looks like the bear finally woke up from her hibernation state and got out of her cave._

“Jesus Jas, no need to be so loud when I _just_ woke up.”

Lexa had a hard time hiding the exasperation in her tone and crossed her arms in a clear display of impatience.

“You see, that’s the problem. You _just_ woke up. And now I am late, you are late, we are both late! So will you please stop acting like the Grinch on Christmas day and go get ready for school? Your breakfast is waiting for you on the kitchen island, we’re leaving in ten.” The older brunette didn’t let her sister time to protest as she shifted on her heels and made her way back downstairs.

Sofia slowly blinked, her mind still clouded with sleep. What had just happened?

She remained immobile on the same spot for a few long seconds before her brain gradually woke up and caught up with the harsh reality of the outside world.

It was barely eight in the morning and she was out of bed and Lexa was way too frantic.

Why the hell would she even be awake at such an ungodly hour?

Why did her sister keep telling her she was late?

Nothing of it made sense, unless-

Oh.

_Oh._

School. She was late for school. On her very first day back after two blissful months of doing whatever she wanted, whenever she pleased.

Well, shit.

Her body seemingly acting on its own volition, Sofia hurriedly made her way back in her room and grabbed the first pieces of clothing she saw and quickly put them on. Not bothering to apply any makeup on her face, the girl joined her thick dark curls in a messy bun before jogging down the stairs for breakfast.

“Two minutes!” Came the older girl’s voice from the living room.

Sofia hastily shoved the last bites of her cream cheese bagel down her throat before yet again making her way upstairs and aggressively brushing her teeth, washing her awful morning breath away and feeling delighted at the minty freshness it left in her mouth.

“Sof, com on!” She could make out the sound of a door knob being turned followed by the slight squeaking of their front door opening from her bathroom. Her sister really wasn’t kidding when she said ten minutes.

“ ‘Coming right now, Lexa-loo.”

The blue eyed teenager finally climbed down the stairs and quickly hopped in her sister’s Mercedes SUV with both of her shoes in her hands. When she looked at the digital clock on the dashboard, she was impressed to see it was exactly ten minutes later.

“Phewww, well that was a close one but hey, I _totally_ nailed it. Getting ready for school in ten minutes, check! I’m like, the Master of Time or something.”

Lexa fondly rolled her eyes, grinning a little bit beside herself at her younger sister’s easy-going nature. Sofia could be such a character, sometimes. She absolutely loved it.

“Yeah well I’d appreciate it if the Master of Time could actually set her alarm tomorrow.” She smirked in the teenage girl’s direction as she wiped off the green little smudge of toothpaste on the left cheek of the fifteen year old, who decidedly did not appreciate the move.

“Ew Jas, get that dirty saliva-coated thumb off my face that’s disgusting!”

The younger Woods’s exaggerated reaction only made Lexa’s grin widen in affection for the girl.

“Oh stop it I barely even touched you, you’re so extra.”

Sofia didn’t even try to cover her amused snort at that. “Have you met yourself? You are the definition of being extra, sister dearest. Or should I remind you my birthday party of 2016?”

The older brunette couldn’t help the pinky blush covering her cheeks at the memory. “But I thought you loved classical music!”

“I _do_ love classical music, but that doesn’t mean I wished for a whole professional orchestra in our backyard for my thirteenth birthday. Anyway it’s in the past and the musicians did were fantastic, what’s the plan for today? Don’t forget I have training after class, Roan is making us work like crazy. It’s okay though, I want to be ready for New York.”

Lexa softly squeezed her shoulder in assurance, knowing how passionate her baby sister was with figure skating. She genuinely thought Sofia was the best of her club, but of course she was a little biased.

“Yes, today’s plan. First things first: you go to school and I go to my cast’s promotional photoshoot. Then I’ll pick you up from school and drop you at practice and then we’ll have a nice dinner together later tonight. Sounds good?”

“Yes ma'am."

When they got to Sofia’s school, Lexa pulled up the car and looked at her sister with an intense glint in her greens. “You know, I could always go talk to your coach if he is too hard on you. It wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

_Ah Lexa, always so protective._

“It’s not necessary, really. I think it’s a good thing he’s so demanding, it drives me to be better, to work harder. I love it.”

Lexa lived for the fire burning in her sister’s deep blue eyes, her love and passion for figure skating had always been such a beautiful thing to witness since the very first time she learned to skate on their childhood home’s frozen lake.

“I know you do, Bunny.” She leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on the figure skater’s forehead.

“Have a good day being an awesome actress, Jas. See you later!” Sofia unbuckled her seat belt and opened the car door to get out.

“Bye, Darling. Love you!”

“Love you too, Lexie-loo!”

Sofia took in the sight of the enormous american flags proudly billowing in the wind on the front side of Kongeda High and filled her lungs with as much air as she could, bracing herself for what would be.

 _Alright_.

Sophomore year, day one of a hundred and eighty.

She could do this, she was ready to nail this year.

The familiar sound of the school bell announcing the debut of classes woke her up from her little reverie and effectively reminded her how late she actually was.

Sofia Brooklyn Woods took off with a sprint, prepared to face whatever challenges this new year would throw at her.

@@@@

Monday mornings in New York City were always quite the circus, the streets swarmed with countless buisenessmen and women with shiny leather briefcases in hand looking in a rush, the morning traffic buzzed with the repetitive sounds of car honks and the occasional yells of impatient drivers saying to “ _fucking hit_ _the gas, the l_ ight _is green_ _don’t you see,_ _grandma?_ ”, and finally, what seemed like every damned coffee shops flooded with so many people the ordering line would sometimes ends outside the place.

Today was no different.

“Seriously what’s taking so long, just order you freakin’ coffee and move, there’s others waiting behind that have to go to work!”

Okay, so today marked the first day of her and Lincoln’s internship at Brooklyn Hospital Center and Clarke was kind of freaking out. They had been waiting for nearly twenty minutes and they were still only in the middle of the line and everything was taking so much time they’d be late for work on their first day.

“Relax Clarke, we still have an hour and a half before we are expected at the hospital.”

The low chuckle of her friend barely calmed her down.

“Yeah well at this rate we’ll still be waiting in this stupid line in an hour and a half, and  _then_ we’ll definitely be late. Com on!”

The taller man softly grabbed her by the shoulders and fixed his gaze on hers, his gentle voice having a soothing effect on the blonde. “Look at me, breathe. Inhale deeply, exhale slowly, it’s okay Clarke. There’s no rush, just another morning in New York, you know how busy it always gets. We will not be late. That’s it, relax.”

She didn’t know how Lincoln never failed to bring her back down to Earth like that, but how grateful was she for his patience and reassuring presence.

“How do you always manage to do that?”

The man slightly tilted his head to the side. “Do what?”

Clarke pointed at herself with her index finger. “ _This_ , calming me down when I start freaking out like it’s nothing!”

Lincoln grinned and shrugged. “You’re my best friend since freshman year in high school, I would like to think I know you pretty well by now. Really, it’s nothing.”

Honestly, how sweet could that imposing mountain of a man could be? Before Clarke had the chance to do anything more, a chirpy, high-pitched voice resonated behind the cash register.

“Hi welcome to Starbucks, my name is Ophelia, how can I help you!?” Both Clarke and Lincoln cringed at the barista, who was way too excited for what was normal at seven thirty on a Monday morning. Still, the blue eyed woman was just relieved they could finally order, she _needed_ caffeine.

“Hello, I’d like a medium cappuccino without whipped cream, please. And whatever this big guy wants.” She said as she motioned with her thumb towards her friend behind, who looked pleasantly surprised at Clarke’s generosity.

“Alright! So what would it be for you?” Ophelia the barista happily asked.

“It’ll be a large coffee, black, please.”

_Black coffee, how boring._

“Perfect! What’s your name?” The younger girl asked Clarke, her smile so big and white she thought she’d need sunglasses in fear of going blind at the sheer brightness of the thing.

“Clarke, with an _E_. That’ll be all, thanks.”

Ophelia smiled another time and made the blonde girl pay, Clarke kindly tipping her for her good service, even if the barista was a little too enthusiastic. She’d take Ophelia the barista over any other grumpy baristas any day.

It was a few minutes later that a “ _medium cappuccino and large black coffee for Clarke_ ” was called by another employee and now the two med students found themselves skillfully zigzagging through the crowded streets of Brooklyn as they headed to work. With her first caffeine fix of the day doing wonders to her nervous system, Clarke felt incredibly more alert and at ease. It gave her the boost she needed to start her day with vigor.

“Ah Griffy, always the coffee addict. I should have known that was why you were so cranky out there. I assume you feel more like yourself, now that you have brown liquid flowing in your veins?” Lincoln asked with an amused smile and a mischievous twinkle in his kind browns.

“You have no idea.” The blonde said as she practically moaned at the taste her cappuccino left on her tastebuds.

The barely older man smirked at her blissful expression. “Oh I think I do, judging by how you look like that coffee just gave you an amazing orgasm. That’s kind of weird when you think about it.”

It made Clarke snort in auto-derision, Lincoln was probably right about that.

“What can I say, coffee makes me feel things no one else ever did. I might have just found my soulmate, who knows.”

Her best friend played along and added to her game.

“I’ll only come to your wedding if I’m your best man, otherwise you can forget about me.”

Clarke snapped her fingers in faux disappointment before replying very seriously. “Oh shoot! And here I thought I’d ask Raven, she would undeniably look hella hot in a tux. ‘Guess I’ll have to get married without you.”

Lincoln pressed his hand flat on his chest, doing his best to look offended without cracking a smile at their ridiculous conversation.

“Wow. That hurts. How could you betray me like that, your best friend since we were hormonal nerds? The audacity! After all we’ve been through together, I thought you would be more loyal than that. It’s okay, though. Your loss.”

Clarke couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing, Lincoln soon adding his own deep laughter to the mix. When they calmed down, Clarke glanced at him more seriously, her eyes and smile soft.

“Honestly, though, when I’ll get married, if I ever get married, I would be honored to have you as my best man, Lincoln Bowman.”

He winked at her and she could see why so many people were charmed by her friend. “And you’ll definitely be mine, Clarke Griffin.”

They hadn’t realized how much time had passed before they came face to face with the Brooklyn Hospital Center, excitement rushing through them at the sight. This was it, they would finally be able to put to practice everything they’ve spent hours upon hours studying.

Lincoln, ever the gentleman, made a motion with his outstretched arm for her to go first and slightly bowed his head. “After you, Miss. Destiny awaits us.”

Clarke chuckled fondly and took a decided step forward.

_Let’s do this._

@@@@

“Are you kidding me.”

Traffic, as predicted, was horrible and now Lexa was stuck on the highway, nearly forty five minutes late to her shoot. She was so fucked, Indra would never let her hear the end of it. She should have woken Sofia up at six am, that way there’s no way they would have been late. _Damn it!_

As if everything wasn’t already going as badly as it was, her phone rang on her Bluetooth.

_Indra Hunter._

_Great._

Mentally conditioning herself for her manager’s wrath, Lexa pressed the green button to accept the call.

“It’s nearly eleven, Alexandria. Where the _hell_ are you?” The older woman slowly growled and Lexa could feel Indra’s teeth clenching tightly together.

“Good morning to you too, Indra. How are you? I’m fine thanks for asking.” She said, a little annoyed.

Indra sounded even more pissed, for some reason. “You don’t get to sass me when you’re as late as you are and wasting everyone’s time, Ms Woods. You had one job, and it was to get here in time. It-”

“ _Enough_!” Lexa firmly spoke and effectively muted her angry manager. She was her boss after all, no matter how long Indra had known her, Lexa wouldn’t accept to be disrespected that way.

“My job was to get here at ten am for a photoshoot with my cast, but my _priority_ was to take care of my fifteen year old sister and make sure she didn’t miss her first day back to school. In no way will you ever insinuate I’m being irresponsible nor will you ever use that tone with me again, do I make myself clear?”

Indra instantly backtracked and surrendered herself, feeling a little bad for not having had the presence of mind to add the younger Woods to the equation.

“My apologies, Lexa. I did not think of Sofia and I lashed out on you for something you cannot control, and for that I am sorry. It will not happen again.”

Lexa softened a bit at hearing that, she knew Indra for years, the woman was never ill-intentioned.

“It’s okay Indra, I accept your apologies. I know you only mean well for me. I should be there soon.”

The stoic woman sounded relieved through the phone. “Alright, I’ll warn the others. Sorry again, Alexandria.”

When Lexa arrived on set where all her cast and photographers waited for her, her co-star and best friend, Echo Teles, smirked and spoke loudly in the room.

“She has arrived!”

Lexa playfully rolled her eyes, she was in for an interesting time.

@@@@

Panting and more than a little out of breath, Sofia entered her first class of the day just a few minutes after the second bell had rung. With strands of silky dark curls stubbornly sticking out of her bun, the girl looked quite disheveled as she not so quietly made her way to a vacant desk right next to her best friend and ice skating partner, Wyatt Fitzpatrick. He shot her a goofy smile when she appeared next to him, happy to see they had at least one class together, English nonetheless.

“Well would you look at that, the little Woods star has finally made her grand entrance! Though you would think she would look at lot better than this, being late and all.”

 _Ugh_ , Kristopher O’Sullivan. If there’s one thing Sofia absolutely didn’t miss at all during summer break, it was the idiotic fratboy that was Kristopher O’Sullivan. The boy was your typical arrogant high school jerk, the one who played football and had every girls chasing after him for a reason that still escaped her. Seriously, the guy lacked so many brain cells his head was practically a helium balloon, and even that was less empty than Kristopher O’Sullivan’s thick cranium. She didn’t think that because she had a repressed crush on him like you’d see in every bad cheesy movies where the boy and the girl enemies would eventually fall in love with each other. No, she genuinely thought he was a profound moron, and that would never change.

“You can say whatever you want, Kristopher. That won’t change the fact that I still look better than you do.” Sofia interjected carelessly with no semblance of emotion in her voice, the jerk wasn’t worth her energy.

The whole class started to laugh at him and made sounds of “ooohs” and “aahs” and “ouch”, though while it amused the group of teenagers, it didn’t seem to please Nia Snow at all, their teacher glaring daggers at both Kristopher and Sofia for “disturbing” the class.

“Mr O’Sullivan, just what made you think you could talk over me? And as for you, Ms Woods, not only are you late on your first class of the year, you come here and make a scene and perturb all your classmates. That is unacceptable for you both and if I hear anything more getting out of your mouth, I will gladly send you in detention, is that clear enough?”

The two of them scowled at each other before they reluctantly agreed. “Yes, Miss Snow.”

When she groaned and looked at him, Wyatt had his two thumbs up in the air and was smiling in admiration.

“My hero.”

Yep, school was definitely back.

@@@@

For their thirty minutes lunch break, Clarke and Lincoln went to eat outside in the park right in front of the hospital. As they sat down on the verdant grass, they both let out a small sigh.

“Phew, what a busy morning that was, I’m already tired! It’s okay though, I love it.” Clarke said as she opened the lid of the greek salad she bought from the hospital’s cafeteria and took a bite, rejoicing at the first meal she had since her breakfast hours ago.

“I know how you feel, there’s always something new going on, people to take care of, it’s really humbling. I had this little girl, Sasha, as a patient earlier in the day. She fractured her proximal left humerus while she was at her gymnastic lessons, didn’t shed a single tear the whole time I was examining her but you could see how hard she restrained herself, her eyes were glistening with stubbornly unshed tears. When I put her arm in a sling, she was thrilled and kept saying how “ _Heather will be big jealous I look freagishly cool Mommy!_ ” and I couldn’t stop laughing at how cute she was.

Clarke’s heart melted at the image she pictured in her head, Lincoln would be such a sweet doctor. She couldn’t help the small “aww” that came out of her mouth.

“It’s in moments like this one that our painfully long studies become worth it.” The blonde said, her chest still feeling warm at Lincoln’s story.

“You know it.”  
When their conversation turned into a comfortable silence, Clarke opened her phone and looked at the multiple texts her parents and friends had sent her, taking her time to replying to all of them.

 **Old man (7:30 am)**  
_Good luck on your first day as an unofficial doctor, baby girl!_  
_Try not to kill someone!!  
I love you, my little star._

 _I_ _can’t promise anything…  
Love you too, dad <3_

 **Mom (7:45 am)**  
_Hey sweetheart, I know you probably will be too busy_  
_freaking about about being late on your first day to see_  
_this, but I just wanted you to know that I am so proud_  
_of you and I think you’ll be wonderful._  
_I love you, baby._

_Aw, mom <3 Thank you so much, I love you too_

**Raebae (8:30 am)**  
_Clarkie!!!! I won’t wish you good luck for today._  
_You are a FINE ass doctor to be and the BEST fucking_  
_person I know in the entire world (after myself of course),_  
_so no, you don’t need luck._  
_I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS GRIFFOO_

_Your message just made my day <3_

_I love you too, Rae*.* <33_

  
**OthebetterBlake (9:00 am)**  
_Bell and I wish you the best of luck!!!_  
_Go save the world, Griffin;))))))_  
_We have faith in you._  
_AND WE LOVE YOU TO INFINITY <3333_

 _Aw you guys are the best!!_  
_Thank you for the amazing  
text and all the love!_

 

They gave her the little extra boost of energy she needed and when her and Lincoln’s break ended, Clarke was eager to go back to work.

 

@@@@

It had been thirty minutes since the bell marking the end of classes for the day had rung. Thirty minutes. She needed to be on the ice in exactly thirty seven. And Lexa was still nowhere to be found.

_What the hell?_

Impatiently picking up her phone from her butt pocket, Sofia angrily tapped her fingers on her keyboard, sending another text to her sister.

_Are you dead or what?  
Where are you????_

  
And another one.

_Alexandria Jasmine Woods._

  
She lost count of how many messages she sent.

_HELLO!?!?!_

  
_Hey it’s me, Sofia.  
You know, your little sister whose practice is in a half hour?_

 

Oh yes, she did called her repeatedly, but every single time it hit her sister’s fucking voicemail. _Damn it Lexa, pick up your stupid phone!_

_“Hi you’ve reached Lexa Woods, I’m probably busy right now but please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Have a great day, thank you!”_

_“Lexa where are you hiding? You were supposed to pick me up from school and now I’m going to be late for my training! Just pick up your expensive ass phone for once!”_

_“Hi you’ve reached Lexa Woods, I’m probably busy right now but please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Have a great day, thank you!”_

_“WHAT ARE YOU DOING???? CALL ME.”_

  
Seeing as her sister had seemingly forgotten about her existence, Sofia turned to her last resort: Anya. Luckily for her, their older cousin had picked up as soon as the teen called her and kindly took her to the atrium.

“I’m going to strangle her, don’t worry Little one.” Anya said very seriously, eyes never leaving the rode ahead.

Sofia loved Anya.

“Please do, she can be so fucking hard to reach sometimes. It’s so annoying.” Sofia groaned.

“Okay. First of all, language! Second of all, while you are totally right on that point, I get why it can be hard for Lexa to pick up whenever you call. She’s an actress, she spends hours on set. She won’t be able to always answer your calls. But I get why it upsets you, maybe you should talk to her.”

The younger girl shrugged a little defeatedly. “You’re right. It just..sucks.”

Anya sympathetically smiled and pated her on the head.

“I know but hey, it gives us the opportunity to spend time with each other! It’s been too long since I’ve seen you skate, kid.”

Sofia brightened up at that, her smile reaching her ocean blues. “Right? I’m so happy to see you, my favourite cousin.”

The older Woods smirked and made a fond eye roll at her little cousin. “I’m your only cousin, you dweeb.”

Sofia playfully punched her on the shoulder. “Don’t be an ass An, you know what I mean. Jerk.”

Anya snorted before she replied amusedly.

“Aw, so sweet! I love you too, Little Bug.”

“Yeah yeah me too, now take me to practice before Roans kills me.”

“Jeez you really know how to make a girl feel loved.”

Sofia defiantly lifted her brow, an habit she definitely had picked up from the very woman driving beside her.

(Anya secretly relished in it.)

“Would you prefer me to smuggle you in hugs and kisses while I’m telling you how much I adore you?

Anya scrunched her face in disdain, in fact she looked pained at the mere idea of it.

“Never.”

@@@@

“Alright everybody this is it for today, thank you all for coming!”

Lexa loved her job, she really did. She was living the dream that she worked so relentlessly to accomplish and she was so immensely grateful for her successful career. She truly wouldn’t trade it for the world.

But she was tired.

God she was tired.

So, so _tired._

She spent her whole day standing up and taking pose after pose after pose for the photographers and the bright white camera flashes had given her a major headache. She did have a lot of fun talking and laughing and joking around with everyone on set for the shoot, but right now she couldn’t keep up with all the noise anymore.

It was a good thing then, that it was finally over. The only thing she wanted to do was go home, change in her most comfortable pyjamas and curl up on the couch while watching brain dead reality TV shows with her-

_Oh no._

_Sofia_.

She was supposed to pick up her sister after school and drop her at practice and she had completely forgotten.

How could she even forget about her own sister, the most important person in her life? She was horrible. And Sofia would be so pissed at her.

Sure enough, when Lexa took out her phone from her handbag, a total of five voicemails and thirty text messages from her sister and cousin combined were waiting for her on her lockscreen background.

Shit, shit, _shit._

“Hey Lex, what’s with the face?” Echo asked as she put her hand on her best friend’s shoulder, a frown on her face.

“What face?” The brunette asked sounding a little defensive.

“Like someone kicked a bunch of innocent puppies and kittens right in front of you. Wait, I know this face. This is Sofia-related, what happened?”

Of course Echo, her best friend since first grade, would immediately know what’s up with her. But now wasn’t the time to have a chat with her friend, she desperately needed to go.

“I messed up. Listen I can’t talk right now, I really need to go. I’ll call you later see you tomorrow bye love you!” Lexa hurriedly spoke as she quickly made her way out to her car and to the atrium.

When she got there, Anya was patiently waiting for her, but Lexa knew better than to think her cousin was as calm and collected as she actually looked. In fact, with her crossed arms and near serene face, the older woman looked almost scary. Slowly, like a frightened kitten, Lexa made careful little steps forward until she was right in front of her cousin.

Unbeknownst to the actress, Anya was having the time of her life watching her approach like she was marching to her own execution. She had to fight the amused smirk trying to creep up on her features.

Deciding to have her fun with her cousin a little bit, Anya took her famous icy stare and stone cold tone, the ones who’d make grown men pee themselves.

“You’re late.”

It was a short simple sentence, really.

Usually, Lexa wasn’t one to be intimidated easily, she definitely knew how to stand her ground and she certainly didn’t take anyone’s shit.

But Anya.

_Dear lord._

Anya was something else.

There was this thing about her cousin that had always made her squirm like a terrorized baby deer caught in the headlights. With her ramrod straight posture, and really that was the only straight thing about her, her deadly cutting jawline and her cool expressions, Anya looked daunting. And now that _The Stare™_ was directed on her, Lexa honestly thought she would have a heart attack.

“..Yes.” The twenty-seven-year-old managed to say without sounding as panicked as she felt.

Anya continued to study her with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, making Lexa’s heart pound in her chest for all the wrong reasons.

Anya would surely kill her!

“It won’t happen again. Promise it.” The older brunette took a step in Lexa’s space threateningly, relishing in her cousin’s fearstruck face.

Lexa rushed the words out of her mouth. “I promise. I’ll do my best.”

Just like that, Anya dropped the act and her face broke into a genuine smile. “Good! How are you, little cousin?”

Hollywood’s sweetheart looked dumbstruck, her pupils going side to side trying to understand what was happening. Fortunately for her though, Anya did it for her. “Lexie I was just kidding. I’m not actually mad at you, only a tiny bit upset. Try not to forget your sister again, I won’t always be able to just leave work like that and, well, let’s say Sofia wasn’t too pleased with your..mistake.”

She felt immensely relieved to know Anya was just messing with her, but Lexa couldn’t help the way her shoulders sagged in remorse. “I know. Anya I’m so sorry I honestly completely forgot, things were just so busy and crazy on set and my phone was in my bag and I know I should have kept it with me but-”

“Whoa there, slow down. Lexa it’s okay, Sofia wasn’t late and she understands, she’s maybe a little upset but she understands. We talked about it, she and I. She will not hold it against you, trust me.”

Green eyes were wide and vulnerable and remorseful as the actress let out a whisper of a “You’re sure?” to Anya. It reminded her so much of the lost eighteen-year-old girl drowning in pain and sorrow that Anya felt her heart clench and couldn’t help but softly yet firmly grip Lexa’s shoulders, the subtle physical contact grounding the younger woman.

“Certain. Sofia adores you with her entire being, you will never lose her. She is not going anywhere.”

Lexa inhaled a long steadying breath to take control over her overwhelming emotions once more and exhaled her irrational thoughts away. _You’re fine, Sofia loves you and would never, ever leave you._

_You’re fine, you’re fine, you’re-_

The sight of a dark mane and high cheekbones flushed red from physical effort and exhaustion caused Lexa to abruptly turn around, wide greens locking with hesitant blues.

“Speaking of the devil. Hey kid!”

Sofia wore a tired, barely there little grin as she looked at her sister and then her cousin, before once again resting her gaze on the actress, who looked like she wanted to throw herself at her and engulf the younger girl in a tight embrace, but her tightly closed fists and firmly planted on the ground feet told the figure skater that she was restraining herself, unsure of what her little sister’s reaction would be.

To be perfectly clear, Sofia wasn’t mad per se at her sister. If she had to be completely honest, what upset her the most was Lexa’s crazy agenda which barely let her breathe and so, barely leaving her time for them to spend with each other. She knew Lexa was not to blame, and that it upset her sister just as much as it did her. No, Sofia was not mad at Lexa.

She just missed her.

“Hey you two.” The teenager lightly said, flashing the two women a genuine smile with her lips pressed together.

Her smile reached her ocean pools and Lexa could breathe again, they were fine. With that in mind, she gave into the temptation and stepped forward to pull her sister in her arms while a flood of apologies came out of her mouth.

“Sofia, love I’m so, so sorry. I completely forgot about you and that is unacceptable and I am terribly sorry. I can’t believe it just flew off my mind like that, you don’t know how ashamed I feel. I’ll make it up to you I promise, what about I cook your favorite meal for dinner, how does that sound? And I’ll invite Anya over!”

Said woman lifted a perfect eyebrow, amused to see her younger cousin so frantic while Sofia made a pleased smile and extended her hand for Lexa to shake like they’d just concluded a business deal.

“Alexandria Jasmine Woods, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

Lexa grinned from ear to ear, her sister was the best and she had nothing to worry about.

@@@@

“To Clarke Griffin, the best doctor in the whole world!”

Clarke, Raven and Octavia had a little girls night out to celebrate the blonde’s first successful day at the hospital and they went to a nice Italian restaurant in Manhattan. With their three busy schedules, the women didn’t have much time to really hang out together like they used to, so tonight was the perfect occasion to do just that, and everything was great; the food, the wine, the place and most importantly, the company.

They were currently having their first glass of Pinot noir as they made a toast in Clarke’s honor.

“Aw, thank you guys!” The blonde exclaimed, feeling warmed and content at her oldest friends’ thoughtfulness.

Raven put down her cup of wine on the small circular table before she made a show of placing her two elbows on its surface and resting her head on her closed fists as she playfully wiggled her eyebrows at her blonde friend in true Raven fashion.

“So, how was it? Any crunchy gossips about some hot doctors or nurses? Did they treat you well out there? I sure as hell hope so, because if not I’ll want to have a word or two with your supervisor.” The Latina asked and Clarke was not sure if her friend was for real with her unspoken threat.

Knowing the sharp girl, she probably was.

“Working at the hospital was great, Linc and I were incredibly busy all day and I loved it. I met this nurse, Harper, approximately our age. She’s so sweet and cute, she was really nice to us and she was very welcoming. Oh my god, Lincoln had this little girl patient he told me all about and oh god he was so cute like he was laughing and smiling as he was telling me how Sasha, the little girl, broke her proximal left humerus and how brave she was and it was just such a beautiful thing to witness, the adoring smile he had. So yeah, great day.” Clarke finished, eyes bright with excitement.

She truly was delighted by how well her first day as an intern had went, she loved helping people and aspired to become a doctor since she was a child, preferably in paediatrics. She loved kids, they were just so pure and bright and full of hope.

“Careful Griffy, O might get jealous if you keep talking about her dear Lincoln like that. You have some competition here, Blake.” Raven smirked, relishing in the way Octavia’s eyes narrowed the slightest as she playfully eyed their blonde friend up and down, as if studying her. Clarke only rolled her eyes and scrunched her face in mocked disgust.

“Ew no! Lincoln and I are like brothers and sisters, that’d be like incest or something. He’s all yours, O. Well that is if you finally decide to get both of your heads out of your ass and actually make a move on each other.”

The younger girl blushed furiously and tried to hide it with a pathetic scoff at which Raven snorted at before she once more brought her glass of Pinot noir up in the air to make another toast.

“Wow, I feel like this is going to be an interesting year.. To 2018!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for the first chapter of OIAH! Really hope you liked it and that you think it's worth continuing. Let me know what you think of it, your comments always make my day:)


	2. Of shopping and Woods shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favourite duo enjoys a day out and go shopping, where they meet two interesting people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter really wasn't supposed to be Lexa and Sofia centric, but I guess I got carried away lol. This one's a little shorter than the first, though. Anyway, have fun!

Time passed by incredibly fast when you had the type of schedule the Woods sisters shared. In fact, it passed so fast Lexa barely even had the chance to just sit down and relax as the September days came and went as quickly as they arrived and now they were already in October.

October.

Something about that month had always enticed her. Back home, Lexa was fascinated by the spectacle of the leaves in the trees turning from green to red and yellow and orange and even brown. She remembered going to hike mountains when the colors of fall began to intensify and feeling breathless as she took in the breathtaking sight of the vivid autumnal shades surrounding her from the peak. It was her favourite thing to do when she wanted to be alone, it was cathartic. There were times when she’d bring her sister with her and three year old chubby little Sofia would observe the forest with amazed wide blues and a large toothy grin on her round baby face, calling her with adorable little giggles of “ ‘Lessa Lessa, look!! Fowest!”, making teenaged Lexa fall wholly in love with the small piece of human before her.

Those were the things she regretted most about moving to L.A, where fall was practically nonexistent, as were her freetimes.

Except for today.

It was the beginning of the weekend and Lexa had, to her complete delight, three whole days off. So she decided to do something she unfortunately didn’t have enough time to do anymore: spoiling her little baby sister rotten.

That’s how she found herself up and awake at eight on Saturday morning, cooking Sofia’s favourite breakfast meal with the intention to wake her sister up with the heavenly scent of homemade french toasts, Lexa’s specialty.

Careful not to make too much noise, the actress plugged her earphones and put some music on as she started to sway her hips and bob her head from side to side, her movements perfectly on time with the upbeat rhythm of _Take on me_.

Just as she finished to bake the last toast, she heard the telltale patterns of feet climbing down the stairs and grinned to herself as she placed their two full, fuming plates on the kitchen island. When the younger girl appeared by the large opening that framed the entrance of the room, Lexa’s smile widened and her eyes twinkled in juvenile happiness before she walked to the girl, grabbed her by the chin and planted a smacking kiss on Sofia’s cheek.

“Good morning, my sunshine.” Lexa softly greeted.

Sofia, barely out of bed and a little confused at the beautifully put setup in front of her, furrowed her dark brows and scrunched up her nose as she tilted the side of her head to her left.

“ _Whas’happenin_ ’?” The teenager tiredly mumbled and the whole thing reminded Lexa so much of a curious little puppy she melted on the spot, heart so full of endless love for her little sister, her favourite human on planet Earth.

Lexa breathily chuckled at the cuteness of the sight as she slowly guided Sofia to their food. “We are having a day-length, sisters only date. Just you, me and whatever boutiques you want to go to. I finally have a few days off from shooting and you have a competition in New York in a couple of weeks so I decided to take you out for shopping. Is that alright with you, my darling?” The green eyed actress asked with hope shining in her orbs.

Sofia’s ocean eyes immediately lit up at the thought of spending a whole day shopping with her sister, it couldn’t get any better than that. Also, Lexa had just made her favourite breakfast ever, Sofia was enchanted. Of course it was alright with her.

“More than that, Jas this is _amasome_!” The fifteen year old happily exclaimed as Lexa snorted at the combined words Sofia used to say all the time when she was younger. It was the cutest thing ever.

Lexa smirked as she took a sip of her expresso, looking at the figure skater with a playful glint in her forest eyes. “Still on with that _amasome_ thing, I see.” Sofia answered her by pointing a finger gun at the older girl, who threw her a wink in response.

“You know it, big Woods.” Sofia told the other girl, who heartily laughed at her sister’s antics.

Lexa finished the last bite of her plate as she spoke again. “So, where do you want to go spend my money, little Woods?”

Sofia didn’t even need to think before her answer was out of her mouth. “The Grove.”

The actress shook her head as she good-naturedly rolled her greens. “Of course, why did I even ask? Well start moving, O powerful Master of Time, we have a big day ahead of us.”

Sofia mimicked a soldier saluting their superior. “Aye aye, Captain” She hastily finished her orange juice before she got up to put her dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

“Soldier.” Lexa took a deep and severe tone to imitate that of a Captain’s, Sofia breaking character as she giggled at the older girl’s faked baritone voice, so far of her actual register.

Lexa playfully slapped her butt with the back of her hand as the teen made her way out of the kitchen to go change in her bedroom. “Get moving, young lady.”

Today would be a great day.

@@@@

To most drivers circulating alongside them, Lexa and Sofia probably looked like total fools.

Too bad the two girls didn’t give a single fuck.

As was their tradition, when the two of them would have a day out and had a certain distance to travel in the car, Sofia would connect her phone on the Mercedes’s Bluetooth and would hit her playlist of old bops and the Woods sisters would start to sing-yell while wildly gesticulating every part of their body they could move with the restraint of their seatbelts. More often than not, the whole thing was a mess.

As Lexa stopped at a red light, Sofia changed the song they were currently listening to and selected the one that always made them lose all sense of composure and sanity.

 _Yo, I’ll tell you what I want,_  
_what I really really want,_  
_So tell me what you want,  
what you really really want,_

Lexa’s eyes comically widened twice their normal size and clutched her sister’s slender but muscular bicep with her right hand.

 _Wannabe_.

That was the ultimate, incredible, show-stopping, world-changing, holy Spice Girls masterpiece, bop.

 _Their_ song.

“Oh my god, _Sof_.” The older Woods nearly squeaked in her excitement and Sofia smirked like a madwoman before she started to sing along, pointing at her sister with her two indexes in alternation for Lexa to exchange the lyrics with her, which she happily did and mirrored Sofia’s hand movements.

“I wanna,”

“I wanna,”

“I wanna,”

“I wanna,”

“I wanna really really really wanna zigazig ha.”

When the famous jingle blasted in the SUV, that’s where they both lost it and began to yell uncontrollably, Lexa being honked at when she didn’t see the light turning green and so, blocking the other cars. Sofia stretched out her arms and aimed at her sister with her pointer fingers while Lexa pointed at herself.

“IF YOU WANNA BE MY LOVER, YOU GOTTA GET WITH MY FRIENDS, MAKE IT LAST FOREVER FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS. IF YOU WANNA BE MY LOVER, YOU HAVE GOT TO GIVE, TAKING IS TOO EASY, BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT IS.”

At this point their throats were hurting because of how loud they were singing, but they never once stopped their crazy karaoke session, it just felt so good to be able to let loose the two of them together. It had been a while since they had the chance to, what with Lexa’s hectic schedule and Sofia’s demanding figure skating training.

Sofia had always had the best of times when she was with her big sister, they got along so well. When they were younger, they were always together and she followed Lexa around anywhere she went without her protesting a single time. They’d been through so much and despite all of that, her sister remained her dearest friend. So being where they were now, it meant the world to her and she felt the need to tell her how grateful she was for all the efforts she knew Lexa was constantly putting in their relationship.

Lowering the music’s volume, Sofia turned her head to catch the other girl’s verdant gaze as she softly grinned at her, curious to know what the blue eyed teenager seemed to want to say.

“What’s up?” Lexa said as she drove through the parking lot of the outdoor mall, looking for a free spot where she could stationed her car.

Sofia answered with a little shrug of her shoulders. “Thank you.” She honestly muttered.

Lexa only looked adorably confused by her sister’s sudden confession, her brows were lightly frowned and a slight crinkle appeared in the small space between them. “What for?”

The skater motioned at the space separating them with back and forth gestures of her hands. “This, being the best sister anyone could ever have. And not just because you’re taking me shopping, I mean because you’re just so thoughtful and caring and you always work so damn hard to make me happy and you’re simply so great, I hope you know that. I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done and still do for us.”

Lexa was completely taken aback by the sheer love fiercely pouring out of the younger girl’s words. She was absolutely helpless to the thin layer of moisture that now coated her ever expressive rich greens, reflecting her every emotion freely and openly in front of the one person she was completely comfortable to be vulnerable around. Just minutes ago they were shouting their lungs off singing on the lyrics of Wannabe and now they were being emotional puddles.

Being extra was definitely in the Woods genes.

“Sof I..I don’t know what to say. You’re my family, of course I would do whatever it takes to make you happy.” The actress softly said.

Sofia let out a snort and a watery laugh before she quickly wiped at her blues to destroy all evidences of her ever crying. “Look a us, we’re such saps, I swear.”

Lexa chuckled and pulled her car keys out of the ignition hole before she placed a chaste kiss on the top of her little sister’s head.

“You’re right, let’s get out of here and go bust my credit card’s account.”

@@@@

“I have never understood the deal with throwing coins in a hole that has water in it. What’s so exciting about wasting your money for anybody to steal at the end of the day when no one’s looking? I mean I don’t want some sticky old hobo taking the money I worked my ass off to make.”

John Murphy dearly loved his girlfriend, he truly did. In fact, for her he did some things he would not _ever_ even begin to try to do for others. She made him knot tiny sweatshirts for her cats, go to the goddamned farmers market on _Sunday mornings_ , grow a beard even if it was scratchy as hell because she thought he looked more “savage”, or whatever that meant. She even made him go shopping with her which, okay, he _kind of_ liked. But this, deliberately throwing his own money in a decorative fountain to “have his wish come true”? That he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, ever, do. That concept was a completely ridiculous and overrated myth.

The smaller girl grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him with her as she rolled her eyes to the heavens at her boyfriend’s grumpiness. “Stop being a whiny judgemental ass and get in the picture, John.”

“Okay.” The brown haired boy followed the girl like a loyal Labrador to the giant dancing fountain of The Grove and smiled for the picture, who was taking an absurd amount of time to be snapped as his girlfriend struggled with her phone while mumbling incomprehensible words of _son of a bitch_ and _bad angles_ and _sun_ under her breath, making him frown.

“What is it, Emori?” Murphy placed his hand over his eyebrows to block the sun from getting in his eyes and so, have a better sight at the girl complaining beside him.

“I can’t get one fucking angle right because of the stupid sun being bright as _fuck_ without either of us looking like Edward Cullen when he revealed his true identity to Bella in the woods in the first movie. I have never looked as white as right now, it’s pathetic.”

John snorted in amusement, which earned him a slight scowl from his girlfriend before he gently took her phone from her hand and offered her to take the picture for her. “Here, I’ll help you.”

But of course the Sun wouldn’t just move out for John Murphy, a mere peasant. No, the damned thing was still being an annoying son of a bitch and he couldn’t see the screen for shit what with the fucking rays hitting on the glass like a goddamned mirror and making them blind.

“Fucking hell what’s whit this shit?”

“Maybe if you’d place it like that-”

“Wait I think I’ve found just the perfect angle.”

“Jesus how hard can taking a fucking picture can be! Nevermind that angle was shit.”

“Give it to me, I’ll try again.”

“No it’s okay, I _will_ get this right.”

“John-”

“I’m telling you, Rie, I got this.”

“I just wanted to say-”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS SHITTY ASS PHONE?”

“Would you guys like some help?” A young feminine voice asked them as they could hear a slight chuckle coming from behind.

When the couple turned around to the sound of the estranged voice, a slender young girl with dark brown hair and blonde ends was looking at them with entertained royal blue eyes and crossed arms, likely waiting for an answer. The grin she sported on her well-sculpted face was so large it reminded the older boy of the Cheshire Cat.

The teenager strangely looked familiar to Emori, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where she would have seen the girl before as she continued to study the young beauty standing in front of them.

“Yes. Please. If I spend one more second trying to take that god-awful picture, I’m going to lose it.” The young man said a little bit over dramatically, which made the stranger smile and extend her hand, gesturing Murphy to hand her the phone so she could take the picture for them.

“Here, I’ll take this for you guys.”

Just as the girl told them she was finished, another feminine voice could be heard, that one sounding more old and a little bit unnerved. “Sofia Brooklyn, how many times will I have to tell you to please warn me when you leave to go somewhere else?”

And here before Emori stood _Lexa Woods_ , the lead of her favourite series ever: Fear the walking dead.

 _Fuck_.

So that’s why the girl, Sofia, looked so familiar. She was _Lexa fucking Wood’s little sister_. Apparently, ethereal beauty ran in the family. Seriously, even with their casual clothes the two sisters looked like fucking models. She was just a little bit jealous.

“You’re Lexa Woods.” The words left her mouth before she had the chance to do anything because, holy shit, she was standing right before Lexa Woods. At the words, Lexa’s scowl morphed into a genuine smile, always pleased to encounter a fan of hers.

“That would be me, yes. What’s your name?” Lexa flashed her award-winning, pearly white smile, the one that had made the entertainment industry fall in love with her without the twenty seven year old really realizing how adored she was all over the world.

Murphy looked back and forth between his girlfriend and that Lexa Woods girl he’d never heard of, TV wasn’t truly his thing. She must have been a big deal since Emori wasn’t one to get startrucked really easily, and judging by her frozen state and wide-eyed face, he wasn’t too far off.

Emori looked like a paralyzed fish, with her opened mouth and unblinking wide eyes. “I’m-Em..what?”

 _So lame_.

John, bless him, answered for her with a sweet smile as he put his arm around her shoulders while his girlfriend had yet to move, much to the Woods amusement. The two of them made quite the couple, Lexa thought to herself.

“This is my socially awkward girlfriend, Emori Forest. Hey, you guys fit isn’t it funny? Lexa _Woods_ and Emori _Forest_ , what an odd coincidence. ‘Love the tree theme last names, totally cool. I’m John Murphy by the way, but people only call me Murphy. Well everyone except Nemo over here, she prefers to call me _John_ for some weird reason of hers. Meh, I l like her either way, kind of. But yeah, this is Emori, apparently a big fan of yours.”

The corner of his eyes softened fondly as he presented her to Lexa and the actress couldn’t help but find the couple extremely cute together. Sofia shared her sister’s opinion, John Murphy was a total softie for his girlfriend Emori Forest, and as she thought about it, it was funny that both their last names were tree-related.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Emori.” Lexa offered her hand for the girl to shake, hand who remained untouched and suspended in the air as the tanned girl with dark eyes seemed to have taken roots in the ground.

Murphy had to gently whisper in his girlfriend’s ear for her to finally unfreeze and snap back to reality.

“This is where you grab her hand and shake it, Ririe.”

At last, Emori finished by getting out of her sort of trance as she snapped back to reality and firmly shook the kind celebrity’s patiently waiting hand. Lexa was surprised at how strong the slightly smaller woman’s grip was.

“Sorry about that, I was just not expecting to meet my favourite actress when I woke up this morning. I’m Emori, but you already knew that. It’s such a delight to see you in person and wow, you and your sister really look alike it’s crazy.” Emori said with an amazed twinkle in her chocolate orbs.

Lexa turned her head to look at Sofia, who squinted her eyes really hard and sucked the insides of her cheeks, making her cheekbones look even more prominent. The older Woods shook her head with affection, her younger sister was incorrigible.

“Sometimes I’m not so sure about that, though.” The green eyed woman smirked as she lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in reference to the silly face Sofia had just made. “I think she lacked oxygen at birth or something, the poor thing.” Lexa made a show of looking exaggeratingly concerned for the fifteen year old’s mental health and earned herself an indignant gasp and a light slap on her forearm.

“I’ll have you know I am a great student, one of the best in my class, Alexandria Jasmine, thank you very much.” Murphy, who had yet to utter a word since he introduced his girlfriend to Lexa, smirked at the young girl’s snark and slight cockiness.

“I like her, she’s a tough one.” He said as he motioned at Sofia with his thumb, the girl eagerly meeting his opened palm for a high-five all while bearing a smug little grin as she glanced back at her sister’s eye roll.

Emori happily looked at the scene in front of her, the Woods sisters were honestly goals. You could just feel how fond they were of each other by simply looking at them interacting with one another, it was so adorable. “Would it be okay if we took a group picture?” She asked with hopeful dark eyes to Lexa and Sofia, who looked excited at the prospect of appearing in a picture with one of her sister’s fans.

“Yes, of course!” The star actress of Fear the walking dead sweetly replied as she dropped their bags on the ground while Sofia looked at the tall boy with mischief, which made him narrow his eyes at her.

“Maybe we should ask someone to take the picture for us, you know. I’ve heard the Sun is quite the annoying son of a bitch today.”

“Ah. Ah.” Murphy made his best annoyed face at the blue eyed girl, but really that was all for show. Sofia Woods sort of had begun to grow on him.

And when she made him the bunny ears with her index and middle fingers on the back of his head as she made a silly face when a kind old lady took their picture, he had to reluctantly admit it.

(Sofia Woods was kind of awesome.)

@@@@

After their unexpected encounter with John Murphy and Emori Forest, Lexa and Sofia continued to go from boutique to boutique in their quest to buy as much clothes as possible, common sense and overconsumption be damned.

Lexa found the pair quite interesting. The boy’s grumpy allures and dark sense of humour combined with the girl’s no-nonsense and quick sass made for a unique duo. One that somehow made perfect sense when you watch the two of them together. They were cute.

What surprised her the most,though, was how her sister and her fan’s boyfriend seemed to get along almost instantly. Perhaps it had a lot to do with Sofia, in all her fifteen year old wittiness, being more than capable to deal with John Murphy’s sharp tongue. In fact, Lexa was pretty sure the younger girl could give him a run for his money if she wanted. Seriously, she knew her for fifteen years and even she struggled to keep up with her little sister’s repartee.

Or maybe Sofia was just _that_ loveable. It wouldn’t surprise the actress, to be honest: Sofia had always had this charming, easy-going nature about her that never failed to make people rapidly take a liking to the young girl.

One thing was for sure, Lexa had found their meeting pretty entertaining and she would go as far as to say she could see herself being friends with the oddly adorable couple.

Who knows, maybe their path would cross again?

She certainly hoped so.

Apparently, her little reflexion was more intense than she’d thought, for the loud bang and following string of profanities coming from Sofia’s fitting room caused the older woman to startle so hard she’d nearly fell off her chair, were it not for her well-trained reflexes kicking in.

“ _Jesus hell_ , Jasmine I need your help!” Sofia yelped as Lexa heard what sounded like a head bumping on a hard surface coming from behind the door, that couldn’t have felt really nice. She got up struggling to hide her amusement from her voice because honestly, only Sofia could manage to hurt herself trying to put clothes on.

“Everything alright in there, Mulan?” And seriously, even she could hear the smirk in her tone. 'Turned out Lexa wasn’t that good at masking her emotions where her sister was concerned.

 _Whoops_.

Sofia groaned and spun her blue orbs on their axis even if her sister couldn’t technically see her. “My head is literally stuck in my dress but hey, everything’s perfect! Of course everything’s not alright, Alexandria. You’re quite the smug ass, you know that, right? Now could you just wipe that shit eating smirk _I know_ you bear off your face and come get me out of this stupid dress so we can go home! I’m suffocating in here.”

Sofia Brooklyn Woods was such a melodramatic queen, Lexa thought as the saleswoman working at the fitting rooms strode to them with wide eyes and a concerned face.

“I heard a loud bang coming from here, is everything okay? Anyone hurt?” The girl, Wendy, asked as she looked back and forth at the two sisters, likely searching for any sign of injuries.

Lexa was never one to pass on a golden opportunity.

Putting her acting talents to use, she glanced at the poor woman with what looked like genuine preoccupation in her forest depths.

“My sister is having trouble breathing, please help her! Call the 9-1-1 if it’s necessary, she’s _suffocating_.”

“My colleague is in nursing school, I’ll go fetch her!” Wendy the saleswoman frantically took off, leaving a smug Lexa and a profoundly annoyed Sofia behind.

Suddenly, the teen, still stuck in her dress, heard the snapping sound of a phone camera taking a picture and she immediately realized what was happening.

 _Alexandria Jasmine fucking Woods_.

_**@woodsl: Had a fun day shopping with @sofiabrooklyn today! Attachment picture** _

**@bbylexa: @woodsl @sofiabrooklyn omg LOL what happened to your sister?:’)  
@detectivedimples: @woodsl @sofiabrooklyn sofia is the most relatable person ever. #struggleisreal  
@alexandriadaily: @woodsl @sofiabrooklyn my poor baby!! Help her!  
@avalanceotp: @woodsl @sofiabrooklyn ISJSNDNDDJ LEXA IS ME  
@sofiabrooklyn: @woodsl Ah! I! Will! Murder! You! In! Your! Sleep! :))))  
@daddyhaught: @sofiabrooklyn @woodsl YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST #siblinggoals  
@woodsl: @sofiabrooklyn whatever you say, Sof  
@lesbianluthor: @woodsl @sofiabrooklyn nsjdndnfndhdisjsjs  
@anwoods: @woodsl @sofiabrooklyn Sometimes I wonder how you are even 27**

@@@@

As it turned out, shopping was exhausting.

It took them forever to unstuck Sofia from her cursed dress and the girl really didn’t appreciate that little stunt her sister had pull off with that Wendy woman. Oh and when the saleswoman’s nurse colleague came in to help her with her “breathing problems”? Sofia wanted to strangle Lexa so hard.

At the end of the day though, she came back with brand new skates and a ton of warm clothes, more appropriate for New York City’s October’s chilly temperatures. Sofia really went all in with the wool sweaters and beanies, all of which she got in many different colours. Lexa teased her relentlessly for letting her “basic white girl” show, saying she’d need to get a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks and she’d looked like the perfect prototype of a typical white straight girl. At that, she glanced at the older girl with a sly smirk and made a knowing comment about how she wouldn’t know, considering Lexa was the gayest gay the planet Earth had to offer.

When they came back, the two sisters were way too hungry to bother with cooking, so they decided to have some Thai delivered at their house.

And now they were happily eating on their living room’s huge coffee “L” couch as they had a Disney movies marathon, snuggly wrapped up in their thick white fur blankets.

Pocahontas was currently playing and Sofia realized something quite funny about her sister.

“You know, you kind of remind me of Meeko.” She said as Lexa chewed on her chicken pad thai, turning her head when she heard Sofia addressing her.

Lexa swallowed before she frowned, not sure where her sister was going with that. “What? I remind you of a..raccoon?” The actress looked totally puzzled.

Coincidentally, the scene where Meeko knocked John Smith’s compass on a rock with an angry scowl on his face was on, and Sofia’s eyes sparkled as it further proved her point.

“Yes! I mean look at him, you make the same face when you get mad. Not just that though, he likes to put up a badass front but really he’s all soft and tiny, just like you.” The younger Woods said as she lightly poke Lexa’s cheek with her fingertip.

“I’m not tiny, you are. And for the record, I can totally be a badass.” Her sister pouted at the teen’s words and Sofia snapped her fingers while pointing at the other girl’s face.

“You see, right there! Same cute scowl as him, adorable. Oh and please, you, a badass? Lexa you cried watching Inside Out. Like I said, Meeko.” The young athlete smugly said.

“Who wouldn’t cry at Bing Bong fading away until his body had literally _disappeared_?” Lexa whined.

Sofia amusedly tsked while tapping on her older sister’s nose, which earned her another slight scowl. “I’m telling you, _Meeko_. Here, I’ll show you.” With agile hands, the sophomore quickly pick out her phone from her butt pocket and snapped a photo of Lexa’s pouting face without the brunette having the time to realize what was happening.

Although, when Lexa did see the picture, her emerald eyes threateningly narrowed at the other girl’s mischievous face, completely oblivious as she made a quick post of said photograph on her Twitter account.

_**@sofiabrooklyn: Meeko or @woodsl? Those spot the difference games are getting really hard, these days!** _

**@ryleycooper276: @sofiabrooklyn @woodsl OMG THEY ARE THE SAME HSJSHS  
@zaraxx: @sofiabrooklyn @woodsl Lol, she totally looks like him that’s so funny!  
@wyloofitz: @sofiabrooklyn @woodsl Wow Brooks, that’s pure gold right there:p  
@echoteles: @sofiabrooklyn @woodsl hahahaha aww Lexie:’)  
@woodsforthewin: @sofiabrooklyn @woodsl LMAO  
@anwoods: @sofiabrooklyn @woodls solid case here, Bug  
@woodsl: @sofiabrooklyn I suggest you lift your head from your screen**

Sofia, still triumphantly smirking when she finally closed her phone to glance at her sister, had to do a double take when she caught a glimpse of Lexa’s wolfish grin as the girl slowly approached her, like a predator stalking its prey.

That effectively wiped her smirk out of her face.

“You should run.” Lexa’s low, menacing voice made her squirm like a frightened chihuahua.

Sofia’s long gulp was very audible to both girls.

 _Oh shit_.

As the actress charged at her, Sofia took off like a baby gazelle running for dear life.

Note to self: don’t ever compare your sister to a raccoon ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh Sofia, this little cinnamon bun. I love her so much already!! What do you guys think of ch2? Don't hesitate and leave a comment bellow, it is always pleasant to read you guys. Finally, if you ever want to see something happening, don't be shy and write it down, I love getting prompts. Wherever you are, have an awesome day/night!


	3. Of boxing and fatigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke has a tough day at work and goes boxing with Raven to unwind. Meanwhile, the Woods sisters are preparing for Sofia's upcoming competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good day, readers!
> 
> It's been a little over a week since the last update, it was a busy week:p 
> 
> Have a nice time reading ch3^^
> 
> Ps: kudos to those who see the little crossver I did

Working at Brooklyn Hospital Center was great.

From its welcoming staff and professional atmosphere to its state of the art technology, BHC had quickly become a second home for Clarke Griffin. From day one, she had felt a sense of belonging working there, it was as if she’d been doing this for years instead of a couple of weeks. The fact that she was working alongside her best friend was even better.

Lincoln and herself had developed their own little routine: each morning, they would meet up at Grounded, a small coffee shop in Brooklyn they had discovered a few days after the beginning of their internship, at seven am sharp. Starbucks was simply too hectic and Grounded’s coffee tasted much better, anyway. Next, the two medical students would take approximately twenty minutes to drink their caffeine at the secluded homey banquette bench next to the shop’s large front window. Often, they would have a chat with a daily customer of Grounded, a sweet red-headed police officer named Nicole, who had been frequenting the cute coffee shop ever since she had begun to work for NYCPD six years ago. Then, Clarke and Lincoln would make the short walk to the hospital, where they would spend the day evaluating and treating their assigned patients until their shift would end. Finally, the two of them would either walk or take a cab to get back home, where they would eat, study, take a shower and go to sleep until morning came again.

And the cycle would repeat itself the next day, and the one after, and so on.

There were now at the part where they had just arrived at their workplace and the duo was, as always, greeted by Harper, whom Clarke had quickly taken a liking to.

The athletic blonde nurse was apparently coming back from feeding a patient, for she carried a tray with empty dishes and unwrapped foils. As the girl caught sight of BHC’s latest interns walking side by side as they made small talks, Harper shortly made her way to them and welcomed them with a genuine smile and kind eyes.

“Good morning, you two. How are you guys doing?” She said as she deposited the tray on a nearby trolley.

Both Clarke and Lincoln answered to the nurse’s warm smile with their own cordial grins, exchanging pleasantries during a few minutes until Harper handed them each a folder containing a small list of the patients they would have to see that day, as well as said patients’ medical forms.

The first person on her list was a war veteran named Reginald Rogers. As it said on the forms, the man had suffered from pneumonia and was now in recovery. With that information, Clarke left her two colleagues with one more smile and headed to room 305, not knowing what was awaiting her.

When she got there, she lightly tapped her knuckles on the door to announce her presence and stepped into the room when a deep voice told her to come in.

The sight that greeted her was disheartening.

Laying with the newspaper on the hospital bed was a pale, much too skinny to be healthy, Reginald Rogers. But what struck Clarke most was the way her patient looked at her with dull lifeless grey eyes. Frankly, with his slumped shoulders, he seemed miserable. At that moment, you would never guess the elder had once been on a battlefield.

It broke her heart.

But Clarke would fix that.

Offering him her warmest smile, the blonde extended her hand to Mr. Rogers, who quite reluctantly grasped it in his bony one and weakly shook it with the doctors. His face remained impassive as the woman wordlessly handed him a water, leaving him no choice but to take it and sighed a little bit of relief as the cool liquid soothed his aching throat.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Griffin. I’ll be the one to take care of you from now on. How do you feel today, Mr. Rogers?”

The old man looked at her like she were a disturbance of the highest degree before he grumpily mumbled an answer under his breath. “Everything sucks.”

Clarke chuckled. “Define ‘everything’.” She said as she put her stethoscope around her neck.

The veteran exasperatedly sighed as he very pointedly scowled at his hospital gown, looking at it with as much disgust as he could. “For starters, this embarrassing thing the hospital forces us to wear looks stupid and smells way too much like lavender. And don’t get me started on the damn slit that reveals my ass crack for everyone to see.”

The blonde student lifted an eyebrow curiously. “You don’t like lavender?”

Reginald scoffed and scrunched his face in disdain. “It _stinks_.”

Amused, Clarke plugged her stethoscope’s ear tips in her ears and made to situate its chestpiece between her whining patient’s shoulder blades to make sure his heartbeat was normal. “Is it okay if I put this on you? It’s just a routine check up.” She kindly asked, not wanting to startle the elder.

Still with his grumpy scowl, Reginald shrugged his shoulders carelessly as a sign of acceptance before he continued his rant on everything that made the hospital a place suited for nightmares.

“And that’s just the clothing part, I didn’t even talk about how itchy and suspicious the bed sheets are.”

“Suspicious?” Clarke said as she moved her stethoscope’s chest piece on his chest.

“Yes you heard me well, suspicious. How many sick people slept in those? Disgusting.”

She sighed internally, she just had to fall on a difficult patient.

But she got it though, anyone staying for more than a few days in a hospital would become annoyed and impatient. After all, this wasn’t a very fun place to be in, it could honestly get depressing and Clarke knew that. Reginald Rogers had been stuck in his room for two weeks, it was entirely normal for him to get cranky. She herself would get a little crazy if she had to live in an isolated room 24/7 for weeks on end.

With that in mind, Clarke took a deep breath to keep her cool and encouragingly smiled at the war veteran as she continued to evaluate him. “You shouldn’t worry about hygiene, our nurses do a wonderful job at keeping everything clean and sanitary. The bed sheets are washed and changed every day.”

The retired soldier coughed painfully and Clarke handed him his cup of water and, thankfully, took a sip without a word.

Maybe she had succeeded to get through him.

“And the food. Christ, the _food_. How is it even allowed to eat what we are being fed with? No thank you Susan, I will not _ever_ put your gooey ‘mashed potatoes’ in my mouth. My teeth are perfectly fine, I can eat something other than the orange-ish slime you give me for breakfast. What am I, a prisoner? I’m telling you, even in the trenches at World War Two I ate better than here, and _that’s_ saying something.”

 _Breathe Clarke, let him vent._ _He needs it._

The twenty-seven-year-old noted the result of the tests in Mr. rogers’s personal file before she went to open the blinds to let the day’s light filter in the relatively small hospital room, it _was_ getting a little depressive in there. Hopefully that would lift the grumpy man’s mood.

“I know our food isn’t exactly gastronomic, but with all the various types of allergies our cooks have to deal with, it’s hard for them to prepare food that that will please everyone. I could always get you something from the vending machine if you want. Would you like that?” She generously asked, ever the caring patient one.

It seemed today was not her lucky day.

Reginald dismissed the idea with a swift gesture of his slim hand, discouraging any hopes Clarke had to make him crack even the shadow of the beginning of a smile.

“I don’t have an appetite anymore.” He petulantly grumbled and Clarke had to restrain herself so hard not to roll her eyes in the back of her skull.

She couldn’t wait to be out of there and do something more productive than losing her energy with an uncooperative grouchy old man.

With every ounce of patience she had left, Clarke shot him one final smile as she made her way to the door and turning to face her patient with her hand on the knob.

“If that’s the case, then we are done for today. I wish you a nice day, Mr. Rogers, goodbye.”

When she heard an incomprehensible groan in response, Clarke turned the doorknob and finally got out, quietly sighing on the other side.

Quickly, she fished her phone out of her lab coat’s pocket and sent Lincoln a text as she headed to her next patient’s side.

( _10:00 am) I think I grew a few grey hairs._

@@@@

“Woods, push harder! That arabesque was not graceful enough, do it again! You’re not leaving until you can make your solo flawlessly.”

Sofia’s competition in New York was in less than a week and Roan was absolutely ruthless. She had been at practice since after school and it was now over six pm, she was entirely too exhausted to function and her muscles were screaming in agony. Sofia didn’t care though, she was resolved on doing her routine perfectly. She would make her coach proud.

So with everything she had in her, she got up from where she had just fallen on the ice, ignored the burning ache of the bruises she knew were already forming on her ass and backside, and repeated her solo all over again.

Sofia skated until her lungs screamed for air and her legs felt so sore her knees started to tremble in extreme fatigue. That time, when she went to spin on herself in an arabesque pose, she nailed it.

Roan shouted in approval and Sofia lifted her fist in the air once she was finished, letting out her own celebratory yell.

“Yes Sofia, there’s my best skater! I knew you could do it, superstar.” Her coach proudly exclaimed, her chest puffing out at the praise.

Wyatt, who had been practicing near her, attentively watched the whole thing and practically jumped when he saw his best friend absolutely owning the ice on her last attempt. Sofia was his favourite ice skater ever.

The blonde boy, far more taller and built than the brunette girl, gave a few pushes with his skates and slid over to his friend, placing his hands on her slender waist and lifted her in the air as he made whooping sounds while he twirled her around. Sofia couldn’t help but let out delighted little giggles at her best friend’s silliness.

“That was brilliant, Brooks!” The tall boy excitingly exclaimed as he carefully put her back down.

Sofia confidently smirked as she shrugged. “Practice makes perfect. What about you, though! Don’t think I haven’t noticed how dope that Butterfly Jump looked. Nice work, dude.” The brunette girl patted him on the shoulder.

Their coach descended the stairs as he got up from his spot in the bleachers and made his way on the ice to conclude the day’s training.

“Woods, Fitzpatrick! Both of you get out of here, you guys did well today. Continue skating like this in training and you’ll come back from New York with only gold. Now leave, go eat and rest. I don’t want my best duo getting overtrained. See you tomorrow, kids.” Roan said, pleased at his most promising students as he gently slapped them on the back before he called it a day more loudly for the others.

The two friends parted with a quick hug and headed to the locker rooms to take a well deserved hot shower.

With damp hair and comfortable in her oversized sweatpants as she sported her club’s team hoodie with her name on its right sleeve, Sofia made her way out of the atrium to be greeted with the sight of a grinning Echo.

“Echoo? Where’s Lex?” The tired teenager spoke somehow confused, Lexa didn’t tell her Echo would pick her up.

The actress walked to her and wordlessly picked Sofia’s multiple bags from her hands and dropped them in her Tesla’s trunk. “Yeah, she says she’s sorry she couldn’t be there. She had to finish filming her scenes and seeing as I was done with mine, she asked me to take you home. She should be back around eight or nine, which means you and I will have dinner together, lucky me.” Echo cheerfully said, genuinely happy to get to spend time with her best friend’s sister, who she adored like she were her own.

“Sounds good to me! What are we eating?” The younger girl asked, hungry as hell because of the long training she just had.

The tall woman smirked as she drove out of the parking lot while Sofia turned the radio on. “Your sister would kill me, that healthy rabbit. Take a wild guess.”

The high school student looked thoughtful for a while before her eyes lit up. “PIZZA.”

Echo hold up her right hand, Sofia immediately reaching out and slapped her hand against the older girl’s. “You know it, girlie.”

After a three hour painfully intense training, a greased meal sounded perfect for the young skater.

“Thank you Jesus for Echo Teles, my savior.”

Echo guffawed at the smaller brunette’s dead serious tone. “I see what is the key to your heart. Interesting.”

Sofia brought her hand to her chest as Echo parked her car in the grocery store’s parking lot.

“You don’t understand, Ech. Jasmine _never_ lets me eat junk-food and makes me eat vegetables. It’s pure hell.” The blue eyed teen dramatically cried out, which made Echo roll her eyes.

“I swear, you Woods sisters are the same. So dramatic. I doubt Lex never buys junk, no need to exaggerate, Woods junior.” The actress smirked before she turned off the vehicle and unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Com on Sof, we have things to buy for our awesome pizzas!”

Later in the evening, when their stomachs ached from all the pizza they ate, Echo posted a selfie of Sofia and herself on Twitter laying belly first on the floor as they made agonizing faces for the camera. The picture gathered immediate reaction from the Fear the Walking Dead actress’s fans and her notifications exploded.

 _@_ **echoteles:** _Can’t. Move. **@sofiabrooklyn** Totally _ _worth it. #pizzamaniacs_

  
@ **smiler4eva: @echoteles @sofiabrooklyn** _I feel you guys. #pizzabae_  
@ **FearTWD: @echoteles @sofiabrooklyn** _uh oh, someone’s gonna be mad..!_  
@ **alexandriadaily:**  @ **echoteles** @ **sofiabrooklyn** _pizza all day everyday_  
@ **anwoods:** @ **echoteles** @ **sofiabrooklyn** _hummm, seriously considering tagging L_  
@ **sofiabrooklyn:** @ **anwoods** @ **echoteles** _please don’t._  
@ **echoteles:** @ **sofiabrooklyn** @ **anwoods** _Weren’t you my friend? I feel betrayed._  
@ **commanderbadass:** @ **echoteles** @ **sofiabrooklyn** @ **anwoods** _I SO want to see this_

_So Worth it._

@@@@

Clarke’s day at the hospital had been..demanding, to say the least.

It started off rather roughly, as Reginald Rogers was possibly the rudest person she had ever met. After her first visit, she was already tired and her patience had started to shorten.

But of course that was only the beginning.

Barely out of Mr. Rogers’s room, Clarke had been summoned urgently in the OR, where she had to assist a long and complicated surgery on a police officer, not Nicole, thank god, that got shot right next to his right thigh’s femoral artery. It was a mess, there was blood everywhere and it took hours and multiple surgeons to stabilize him. It hadn’t been easy, but the man would be alright.

By the end of the operation, Clarke was positively exhausted.

Though, that was not the end of it, who was she kidding.

No, she had to take the evening shift of one of her older colleagues whose kid had conveniently decided to catch _Varicella_. And of course every other doctors or interns just had to have been either already home or being busy with their own shifts and how could she refuse an established doctor, she, a simple intern. Refusing him would be seen as a professional suicide.

It was nine in the evening when she got out of the hospital, feeling drained and frustrated.

She needed to punch something.

Fortunately for her, Clarke knew exactly where she could hit her pent-up anger out of her system.

Raven Reyes was, let’s be honest, a very attractive woman.

Raven Reyes sweating in revealing tight shorts and Calvin Klein’s sport bra while boxing, though, that was something else. Her friend looked utterly hot, Clarke thought to herself as she entered the old worn out gym where the mechanical engineer was relentlessly launching precise punches and kicks at a battered heavy bag in the center of the tiny space.

The Latina was so caught up in her intense training that she hadn’t even noticed the blonde until Clarke appeared in front of her, dressed in workout clothes and wearing golden boxing gloves on her hands. Though, when Raven eventually caught sight of her blue eyed friend, her chocolate eyes blinked several times, likely to make sure she wasn’t imagining things, before she pulled her plump lips in her trademark Raven Reyes smirk.

“Griffin, fancy seeing you here.”

“I really need to slug something, anything.”

Upon seeing her blonde friend’s dark bags under her dimmed and exhausted cobalt eyes, Raven’s smirk slowly faded and gradually morphed into a genuinely concerned frowned. “Whoa, ‘you alright there, Clarkie? What am I saying, of course you’re not alright, sorry. I’ll rephrase that more conveniently: What has gotten you so..not yourself?”

Clarke put her hands on her hips as she lowered her head down, her shoulders sagging a bit as she did so.

“Ah, just work. It’s been a long day and I really need to get it out of my system. It seemed like I was right coming here.” The tired intern breathed out.

The slightly smaller woman tilted her head to the side as she crossed her hands-wrapped arms on her chest while fixing her gaze on her friend’s from below. A soft twinkle burned in her deep browns as she spoke. “You know it, C. I’m your girl. Com on then, no time to lose.”

Raven wrapped both of her hands around the crook of the other girl’s elbow as she gently pulled her until they were on the ring in the far end of the gym, grabbing her own pair of pink boxing gloves on the way there.

Lightly bouncing from side to side on the tip of her toes with her first pulled up in a defensive stance, the brilliant mechanic challengingly smirked at Clarke as she tapped her gloved hands together.

“Let’s go Griffin, don’t make me wait too long. Or are you afraid I’ll kick your ass? Don’t worry, I’ll be easy on you, maybe.”

Raven’s word lit a fire within Clarke, ever the competitive one. Steeling her gaze, the blonde beauty lifted her eyebrow defiantly as she fell into position, grateful for the distraction her friend was wordlessly offering her.

“Oh this is so on, Reyes.”

In a swift gesture that barely let Clarke time to blink, Raven dropped to the ground and crouched on her left leg as she quickly made a sweeping motion at her opponent’s feet, her friend successively landing flat on her ass.

The sassy girl bounced back on her two feet and made an entirely too dramatic yawning sound while tapping the flat of her hand on her mouth, putting on a show to look bored.

“ _Whew_ , and here I thought I’d have some competition. Wake up grandma, tea time is over!” Raven cockily let out as she went to reposition herself on the opposite side of the ring.

Clarke darkly chuckled and got up, her friend had successfully awoken the fierce competitor in her.

“You little shit.”

This time, when the muscular boxer launched her fist at her face, Clarke agilely ducked out of the hitting line and, taking advantage of the fact that Raven still had her arm fully extended, locked the girl’s wrist in a death grip before she twisted the toned arm and pulled it behind Raven’s back.

A painful grunt got out of the bested party and Clarke smugly murmured to her ear. “Now who’s the grandma? I expected better from the great Raven Reyes, I have to admit I’m a little disappointed.”

The smaller woman softly panted as a devilish smirk took place on her lips, Clarke oblivious to as she faced the Latina’s back.

“Oh I’m sure she still got some tricks up her sleeve.” Raven smugly said.

The blonde that had currently her trapped snorted sarcastically. “I’d like to see-”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence as the other girl mercilessly used her free hand to attack Clarke in tickle which, as expected by Raven, had the blonde shrieking and immediately released her strong grip on her victim’s arm, leaving Raven all the time in the world to take control of her now sore member.

At lightning speed, the dark-haired boxer spun around her side and agilely kicked her friend behind the knees, not hard enough to hurt her but just enough to make the BHC’s intern stumble forward.

Seconds later, Raven’s foot firmly planted on Clarke’s back, rending her helpless to do anything else but groaning in defeat.

“Okay Reyes, you win. Now that you have proved your point, can you get your dirty foot off my back?” She said, her voice a bit muffled by her mouth’s proximity to the floor.

Raven proudly put her fists on her hips and puffed out chest as she lifted her chin in a manner that was similar to an explorer conquering foreign lands.

“Nah, I’m good here. And besides, the view looks fantastic.” She declared as her brown gaze very specifically wandered on Clarke’s rear.

“Raven.”

“Mmm?”

“Stop staring at my ass and get the fuck off.”

“Yes Commander, my Commander.”

As soon as Raven’s foot left her backside, Clarke caught the unsuspecting girl’s ankle mid air and pulled her defined leg towards herself. When she brusquely fell square on her butt, Raven looked positively murderous.

The blonde woman was already up on her feet in the basic fighting stance when the triggered mechanic glanced up.

Raven temporarily laid on her back before she brought her legs up and swung herself back to stand on her feet, Clarke rolling her eyes at her show off friend.

Raven let out a slightly maniacal laugh as she crouched down in position, bouncing on her toes with an impressive footwork.

“Your cute ass better be ready for round two, Griffin. This is just the beginning.”

And ready Clarke was.

 _@_ **clarkiegriff:** _Hey Instagram! I’m just putting this here to show you I how expertly beat @ **makeitgoboom** ’s ass_

 _@_ **othebetterblake:** _HELL YEAH THAT’S MY GIRL! TAKE THAT, BITCH @_ **makeitgoboom**  
@ **makeitgoboom:** _you two can kindly fuck off._  
@ **lincbowman:** _amazing. Team Clarke all the way_  
@ **makeitgoboom:** @ **lincbowman** _traitor_  
@ **belomi:** _I knew you had it in you, princess_  
@ **drabbygriffin:** _Hello sweetheart, I see you have hurt your friend pretty badly. Don’t hesitate to apply ice on her wounded pride, it’ll do her good. Your father and I love you!!!!!:))) <333333_  
@ **makeitgoboom:** @ **othebetterblake** @ **belomi** @ **drabbygriffin** _TRAITORS, YOU ARE ALL TRAITORS_  
@ **clarkiegriff:** _…mom?_

@@@@

Lexa had just wrapped up filming Fear for the day and was eager to go back to her sister’s side. When she got back to her trailer, the actress took a shower to wash off her badass Alicia Clark makeup to go back to Alexandria Woods, and it was certainly not an easy task.

That day, they had exclusively filmed combat scenes, so with that came the fact that she had fake blood and fake, though it was mixed with real, dirt caked literally all over her body.

Scrubbing off every inch of grime was truly a pain in the ass and Lexa, a certified clean freak was intent on not getting out of the tiny bathroom until her skin glowed in perfect cleanliness.

Thus, it gave her plenty of time to mentally go over her to-do list once more. The only two things that remained were calling Sofia and then, Indra. As her little sister’s competition took off that Friday in New York City, the twenty-seven-year-old beauty had, no, wanted, to clear her schedule for that weekend in order to accompany her talented figure skater sibling and see her own the ice like the future Olympian prospect Lexa knew she was, deep in her heart.

Sofia truly had a gift for figure skating, Lexa knew it, Roan knew it, hell even Sofia herself knew it, but never once did the witty teenager sat on her natural talent.

In fact, Sofia was probably the most hard-working and driven person she knew. The amount of time the girl spent training on _and_ off the ice was astounding, and absolutely nothing succeeded in stopping the young athlete. Every time she failed a move, every time she made a complicated jump and fell, every time jealous people told her she was insane to put that many hours in a ‘hobby’, Sofia never let any of it discourage her.

She always got back stronger.

Lexa was so damn proud.

The Fire and Ice competition in New York was a big deal, that much Lexa knew. She had seen for herself how intensely her younger sister was training for this weekend, and not going with her was absolutely out of the question.

Surely there wouldn’t a problem with her manager, Indra would understand.

At last, when the last spot of dirt came off, she got out of the shower and quickly dressed in pink silk shorts and an oversized sweatshirt, Lexa sighing in contentment at finally being in comfortable clothes.

Once her brunette mane dry, the green-eyed actress settled on the small couch across her makeup table and grabbed her phone from said table to call Sofia, who unsurprisingly answered on the first ring.

“Lexie-loo! ‘What up girl?” The overexcited girl cheerily uttered, making both of Lexa’s perfect eyebrows lift in mirth at her sister’s tone.

“Why are you talking like Nicole Byer on _Nailed it!_ ?” She suspiciously asked.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous Jasy, I’m just really rapturous to hear your melodic little voice is all.” Sofia sweetly declared, _too_ sweetly. She was definitely on to something, the older Woods thought.

“ _Rapturous_? Such a literary you are tonight, darling. What did you do?”

“Can’t I just be delighted to talk with my favorite person in the entire universe?” The witty teenager said in a saccharine voice that was _much_ too odd for Lexa’s liking.

“ _Sofia Brooklyn Woods._ ” Lexa could hear the other girl squirm over the phone.

“Nothing! It’s nothing, really. Truly, nothing happened I promise. I just missed you and I’m very glad to talk to you, that’s all.” Sofia genuinely assured.

Still, Lexa was suspicious.

“Okay, well I just wanted to let you know that I’m done here and I should be home in twenty.” The older girl tentatively replied.

“Great! Actually, there was this one thing that happened, not a big deal really-”

“Sofia Brooklyn!”

“ ‘GottagoI’llseeyoulaterIloveyoubye!” The figure skater rushed out and hung up, leaving Lexa slowly blinking.

“Damn it Sofia!” Lexa whined to the emptiness of her trailer.

Though she didn’t get much time to further analyze what her sister could have done, or destroyed, who knows, as her own ringtone disturbed the faint silence that had tentatively taken place after Sofia had hung up on her.

Coincidentally enough, the name Indra Hunter flashed on her phone’s screen.

“Hello, Indra. I was just about to call you, what’s up?”

Her manager’s tone was formal, as it always was when she meant business. “Good evening, Alexandria. If you had to say something to me go ahead, I can wait.”

Lexa cleared her throat, her own voice suddenly turning into her professional, slightly commanding one.

“Yes, I would like you to clear off my schedule for this weekend starting on Friday, I’m flying to New York with Sofia for her ice skating competition.”

Indra was silent at the other end of the line which made the actress frown. Thinking her manager hadn’t heard her, Lexa spoke a little louder. “Indra?”

The older woman sounded rather uncomfortable as she answered to her boss. “Yes, I am here. And I’m afraid I can’t do such things, at least not until Saturday, you already have agreed to appear in Ellen Degeneres’s show Friday night. The interview was booked months ago, didn’t you remember?”

Lexa felt her heart drop to her stomach.

That had completely fled off her mind and only now that Indra had told her did she remembered.

She promised her sister she’d be there with her at her competition. Sofia was so excited at the prospect of the two of them in the Big Apple, she hadn’t stopped talking about how hard she had trained for that particular weekend and how she would make Lexa proud and how amasome this would be.

She was going to be so disappointed. What would she tell her?

Lexa felt a hot pressure behind her lids as her forest depths grew wet with unshed tears. The mere idea of hurting her little baby sister broke her heart.

Trying to get a handle on her emotions, the brunette looked skyward and rapidly blinked her tears away before she pinched the bridge of her nose to regain composure.

“Right. Is there something you could do regarding that?” She asked a little desperately even if she was well aware at the improbability of her request but still, it was worth a try.

She was an awful sister.

“Lexa you can’t possibly be considering to cancel on _Ellen Degeneres_. And besides, it would seem extremely unprofessional for you to call that off mere days before you’re expected to attend The Ellen Degeneres show.” The usually stoic woman carefully explained and Lexa couldn’t help the lump closing up her throat.

“I- but- you’re right. Of course, you’re right, it’s just-”

“You’ll be able to leave for New York right after, do not worry.”

That lifted a heavy weight off her shoulders.

“Really?” Lexa practically jumped off the couch as a disbelieving smile crossed her delicate features, rich emeralds shining with delight.

Indra chuckled at the childish tone of her protégé. “Yes Alexandria, I have everything else covered. Just be there Friday night, have a nice time with Ellen, charm everyone there and then you’re out of L.A and up on a plane headed to NYC. Do we have a deal Commander?” Lexa could hear the sly smirk her manager probably sported on her face at the old nickname.

Hollywood’s sweetheart turn off the lights as she made her way out of her trailer with a renewed hope in her stance. It still upset her big time that she had to ditch her own sister but a least she’d get to be there for the rest of the weekend, something Lexa had been afraid was off the table when Indra told her about her obligations.

“We sure do.”

When she got in her car, a Twitter notification from her best friend caught her attention and she couldn’t help her fond eye roll at Echo and Sofia’s endeavor. As opposed to what everyone else thought, Lexa actually didn’t mind if her sister had junk-food once in a while. She herself wasn’t a big fan of greasy burgers and such, but she couldn’t forbid Sofia to have some occasionally.

 _@_ **woodsl:** _@_ **echoteles** _@_ **sofiabrooklyn** _you guys are impossible_

Now she had to tell Sofia.

Taking a deep breath, Lexa turned her key in the ignition hole and took off.

@@@@

“I can feel death.”

Clarke said rather dramatically before taking a large sip of her black coffee, she needed something strong, Lincoln snorting across her from his seat at the oval coffee table of the man’s living room.

With their mid-semester finals slowly but surely approaching, the duo had met up after Clarke’s boxing session with Raven to study together at Lincoln’s apartment since it was far more peaceful for that sort of activity, what with Clarke living with both Raven and Octavia.

Yes, it was very late and yes, they were both way too drained from their respective day at work to be even the slightest efficient, but they hadn’t had much free time to go over their school books since beginning to work at the hospital. That’s why they were still up at midnight on a Tuesday night, head buried in medical books.

“You don’t just feel like death, you _look_ like it ‘sis.” He said, not looking much better than his friend.

“Fuck you.”

“I think I’d like to ask Octavia out on a date.”

Clarke’s head snapped up so fast she had whiplash.

“Did I heard you well, am I hallucinating?” She was so out of it that at this point, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she had imagined things. Seriously, her brain was dead.

Lincoln made a little eye roll but blushed as he repeated himself to the blonde zombie in front of him.

“You heard me well. Yes, I want to ask her out. I like her. A lot.” He glanced down with a shy little smile on his face, already looking like a smitten puppy.

Clarke was absolutely ecstatic because honestly, she had been waiting forever for one of them to make a move on the other.

She was at his side in a flash and engulfed her best friend in a soft hug, the taller man quick to return the embrace.

“Linc! Finally! I can’t believe it, you actually decided to make a move on O. It’s been what, like a year? Two maybe? I can’t remember. Anyway, way too long. It was a little pathetic, I have to say. I’m really happy for you though.” The blonde said as she rested her head on Lincoln’s broad shoulder, her sapphire eyes heavily blinking in sheer exhaustion.

Lincoln took that as their cue to call it a night and closed their books.

“Com on Griffy, I’ll drive you home.” He gently shook her awake.

Clarke whined like a petulant child as she tightened her hold on her friend. “ ‘Don’t want to move, you’re so warm and comfy.”

Lincoln shook his head at her sleepy antics before easily swooping her bridal style in his muscled arms, making the girl squirm in surprise. “I’ll carry you this time, but don’t get used to it.”

She burrowed deeper in the crook of his neck, seeking warmth. “Mkay, ” Clarke said even if they both knew Lincoln would unquestionably do it again.

“Let’s get you home then, doctor.”

Her best friend’s familiar soothing voice was the last thing Clarke heard before she let the sweet temptation of sleep get the better of her and faded into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are a little impatient for the Clexa meeting: we're halfway there, hang on with me! It's going to be worth the wait.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this new update!
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter if you ever want to dm me or whatever at @clexualz 
> 
> See ya:p


	4. Of missteps and friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sofia gets bad news and has to deal with it, meanwhile Clarke has breakfast with Octavia, Raven and Bellamy. Finally, Clarke and Lincoln go pick his niece up at school and Clarke is the sweetest. The Woods sisters have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost three weeks since last update, phew! I'm so sorry guys, school really is a pain in the ass:$ 
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy ch4!

Lexa had arrived shortly after nine pm, a tired little grin on her face as she took in the sight of her sister and her best friend huddled close on the living room’s large couch. She let out a soft ‘hey’ in greeting as she joined the two girls on the fluffy sofa, to which only Echo replied with her own weary lopsided smile.

When she saw the sleeping form of Sofia, head laying on the other girl’s shoulder as she snored ever so slightly, Lexa’s heart constricted painfully as it sank in guilt at what she would have to say to her.

Feeling her forests get wet again, the older Woods stretched out to press a feather-light kiss on the sleeping teenager’s temple, who didn’t even bat an eye at the gesture. She was completely out of it, probably because of her training a few hours earlier.

Lexa sometimes thought Roan pushed her sister too much and was scared he’d burn her out someday, but when she’d see the all-consuming fire in Sofia’s sparkling ocean pools when she’d received the gold medal on the highest position on the podium, the worried sister’s insecurities would fade away to be replaced by an overwhelming pride for her favorite athlete in the whole world.

Ice skating meant everything to Sofia, that much was evident when you looked at her go on the ice, all graceful spins and shining blue eyes as the audience as well as the jury would fall in love with the talented girl at the first stride she would make on the ice.

Lexa knew Sofia’s qualifications would take place on Friday, and the fact that she would have to miss such an important step in her sister’s long-awaited competition, well, it broke her heart. And if the slight frown in Echo’s were anything to go by, it showed in her face.

“Lexie, hey what’s going on?” Lexa’s co-star quietly whispered as she gently laid the teen’s head on one of the couch’s soft pillows to go sit next to her vulnerable looking best friend.

Lexa threaded her hand through her luscious brunette locks and looked skyward, shrugging helplessly as she brought her knees to her chest. She looked entirely too small. “I uh… I can’t go to New York on Friday. I have to cancel on Sof.” The emotional brunette shakily exhaled as she rubbed her greens with her thumbs, willing the tears away.

The other woman’s eyes widened as she seemed to connect the dots in her mind. “Shit, you’re going on Ellen Degeneres’s show. Fuck. I’m so sorry Lex, I know how pumped you were for this weekend. What are you going to do, I mean surely you’ll fly out after Ellen? How will you tell Sofi?” Echo asked while she put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher, Lexa following her to the kitchen and sat on one of the kitchen island’s white leather stools.

Echo looked over her shoulder as her upset friend sighed exhaustingly and pinched the bridge of her nose, a habit Lexa had since she was a child. “Of course I will, Indra has already planned everything out. I have no idea honestly, I guess I’ll talk to her tomorrow morning since she’s already passed out.”

Coincidentally enough though, as soon as she finished her sentence, the two of them could clearly distinguish the slight ‘thump’ of a set of socks-covered feet coming in the room as Sofia, a warm blanket draped over her shoulders and a mess of wavy dark hair piled on top of her head, sleepily came to Lexa and encircled her arms around her sister’s waist. The older girl, deeply touched by her baby sister’s adorable display of affection, immediately threw her arms back around the teenager’s slim form before she pressed a loving kiss on the top of the young girl’s head.

“Hello, my love.” Lexa tenderly greeted with obvious adoration coating her voice.

Echo, feeling like the two sisters needed to have some time alone just the two of them, gave them a warm smile before she went to gather her things to leave. “This is my cue to leave, I’ll leave you two alone. Bye guys, I love you.” After a quick parting with the Woods, Echo left and it was now just Lexa and Sofia standing still in the same embrace in the kitchen, the skater clutching the actress like a teddy bear.

Lexa’s heart jumped a little at her sister’s sudden clinginess, she lived for moments like this. Sofia wasn’t one to be overly physically affectionate and when she was, Lexa melted and her heart grew ten times bigger.

She just loved her so much.

How the hell would she find the courage to give her the bad news?

The way her sister sleepily snuggled up in the crook of her neck wasn’t of any help, rather it only deflated her poor weak little heart even more.

“How was your day?” Lexa was stalling and she knew it, though she genuinely wanted to know.

Sofia then grumbled something entirely too incomprehensible for Lexa to understand even a single word and it made her chuckle breathily, it was so adorable. “That bad uh?”

“ ‘M exhausted.” The girl said as she yawned with her mouth opened excessively wide.

Clearly, Sofia wasn’t all there. It wasn’t the right time to tell her, Lexa decided.

_Is there ever a right time to deliver bad news?_

Hollywood’s darling hated that she just always had to be rational. There was no escaping her own mind.

_It’s like ripping a band-aid off._

There was her traitorous conscience again.

_Better now than too late._

Couldn’t her morals shut up, just this time?

_Don’t think, just do!_

Apparently not.

“Hey, Sof…” Lexa slowly began, inhaling deeply while her grip on her sister unconsciously tightened.

Why was she so goddamn afraid of her own sister’s reaction?

“ ‘Wassup?” Sofia tiredly mumbled as she lifted her head from her resting spot to look in Lexa’s nervous emeralds. Her blue ones became instantly more awake when she saw how anxious the older girl’s greens appeared. Something was not right.

“Lexa?”

Sofia _never_ called her by her diminutive. She knew something was up and her serious tone confirmed it all the more.

 _Shit_.

Well, now Lexa didn’t have much of a choice but to go through with it.

_Ripping the band-aid off._

Right.

_She could do this._

Right?

 _Yep_.

_Stop stalling, goddamit Alexandria!_

Sofia was looking at her with those damn inquisitive doe eyes and really how weak was she?

Somehow mustering up the courage to actually reply to her sister, Lexa decided that she’d just take the plunge without looking back.

“Ican’tgotonewyorkonfridaywithyou.”

_Seriously? Get your shit together, Woods! You’re a grown ass woman._

_Stop talking to yourself!_

Sofia scrunched up her nose and tilted her head in confusion and she looked like a cute little puppy and how was Lexa supposed to hurt her when she was the cutest human on planet Earth? That wasn’t fair.

“What?”

“I can’t go to New York on Friday with you. Indra reminded me I had already agreed on going on Ellen Degeneres’s show that same evening and I can’t cancel this late on. I completely forgot I’m so sorry. You don’t know how upset at myself I am right now. Such a good sister I am.” The taller brunette self-deprecatingly let out.

“Oh.” A flash of hurt and disappointment crossed the younger girl’s face as she very carefully took a step back to process what she has just been told.

Lexa wanted to die.

“Sofia, baby I’m terribly sorry. I’ll fly there as soon as I’m finished with filming, I promise. I’ll have Indra send me a private jet if I have to. You must think I’m the worst support system ever. This sucks, I am so utterly sorry.” The actress frantically apologized.

“It’s alright, I get it. At least you’ll be there for the rest of the competition.” Sofia calmly said as she attempted to smile to convince her sister that it was nothing.

But it was not.

The figure skater had really been looking forward to that particular weekend, not only because she would have the chance to compete against some of the best skaters in North America, but also because she’d never gone to New York before and going there with Lexa, her best friend, well, it was sort of a dream of hers. From how her sister would have sneaked in some of her favorite candies for them to eat on the plane to the huge ass signs she would have made to cheer for her in the stands when she’d skate because she was so damn extra, Sofia had already imagined how their whole time in her dream city would have unfolded.

There was a part of her that thought she was overreacting because after all, Lexa would be with her for the majority of the weekend. But the urge to cry hit her far more than she would have expected and now Sofia wanted to be alone more than anything else.

“I’m tired, I think I’ll go to bed.” She said as she started to retreat to her bedroom.

She paused at the choked sob of her sister, trying to keep her own tears at bay.

“Sof, wait!” Lexa shakily pleaded and Sofia needed to get out.

“Goodnight, Lexie-loo.” The teenager whispered before she left.

That would hurt Lexa, Sofia knew this. She would talk to her in the morning.

That night, Lexa Woods didn’t sleep at all.

@@@@

Nia Snow was probably the most boring teacher in all existence of school history, Sofia thought as she heavily sighed while doodling absentmindedly in the margin of her English workbook, not bothering to take the notes of things she already knew. For all intents and purpose, Nia Snow’s class was a complete waste of her time and the witty teenager was bored out of her mind. When she took in her surroundings, Sofia saw that she wasn’t the only one who looked like someone who’d much prefer being lectured at by Titus Flame, their history teacher, than being stuck in Ms. Snow’s pathetic excuse of a class. Well, everyone except of course one person.

_Charlotte Vidovic._

The girl was the epitome of the perfect student, always had perfect grades and every teacher loved her. Sofia honestly thought she was annoying and severely lacked common sense for someone supposedly so smart. She never really had a true conversation with the little Miss Perfect, but the blue-eyed skater only needed to hear her lick their teachers’ ass to openly roll her oceans to the high heavens in irritation. Charlotte Vidovic figured dangerously close to Kristopher O’Sullivan in Sofia’s short list of people she absolutely couldn’t stand. _Kristopher O’Sullivan_. That’s how much Charlotte got on her nerves.

And like that wasn’t already enough, the dark blonde haired girl was, in fact, her biggest threat at figure skating. Sofia had to admit, although quite reluctantly, that she was an amazing skater. The two of them were constantly competing against each other for the first position at every single one of their competitions. It was utterly frustrating.

Making an eye roll yet again at her figure skating rival’s little show when their teacher asked them a question about some grammar thing Sofia wasn’t even remotely interested in answering at, she discreetly pulled her phone out of her Italian leather pencil case (Lextra) and shot Wyatt a quick text.

 **Brooks *.* (10:30 am)**  
_Ugh, look at little miss sunshine over there.  
Please get me out of here before I die of boredom._

 **Wywy!! <3 (10:31 am)**  
_Still on with that irrational hate towards Vidovic?  
Com on Brookie, she’s not that bad;)_

 **Brooks *.* (10:33 am)**  
_… Are you kidding me?_  
_Btw, I don’t hate her._  
_I just happen to think she’s just too much._

 **Wywy!! <3 (10:34 am)**  
_I am most definitely not kidding, Woods.  
Keep telling that to yourself:3_

 **Brooks *.* (10:34 am)**  
_What do you_

“Ms. Woods! Is that a cell phone I see in your hands?” The severe voice of her stuck-up English teacher startled the brunette and Wyatt practically shoved his iPhone in his Guns ‘N Roses t-shirt in fear of getting caught too. Sofia would have laughed, had it not been of the murderous stare the Witch was throwing at her.

“It would appear so, Ms. Snow.” Sofia loftily replied with a cocky smirk plastered on her face, knowing very well how to push her conservative teacher’s buttons.

An angry veined popped in the older woman’s neck.

Maybe she’d have her fun after all.

“Would you care to explain me why, _Sofia_?” Nia spat out her name in barely controlled furry and Sofia had a hard time restraining the amused smile trying to make its way on her red lips.

Sofia cocked her head to the side innocently and made a fake frown to appear confused. “Because I bought it? I’m afraid I’m not following you, Ms. Snow.” Okay, so she knew she acted like an arrogant prat, but the scandalized look in her teacher’s ice cold eyes was simply too priceless to pass on.

Nia gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the insolent teenager in the back of the room as she tried in vain not to bark at the girl. “You know very well what I’m talking about, miss. This is the school policies, no phones in class. Now give me the damn thing or see yourself out, end of story.”´

When he saw the haughty lift of her chin and the defiant smirk on his best friend’s face, Wyatt’s clear blues widened in apprehension. Sofia just knew how to put herself in trouble.

“Why then I’ll gladly see myself out if you so generously offer it, Ms. Snow. That can’t be worse than your useless class.”

At that, her classmates, who remained silent the whole exchange with eager eyes until then, let out a collective gasp and some even hollered at Sofia’s boldness.

“Yas queen, you tell her!”

“Woods is so salty, I love it!”

“SOFIA FOR PRESIDENT 2018.”

“Yo go, girl, show her how it’s done!”

“LIT.”

Meanwhile, Nia looked positively ready to strangle Sofia and looked like a crazed animal, much to the girl in question’s immense delight.

She ignored the unimpressed snarl of crack head Kristopher O’Sullivan.

“You are royally out of line, Ms. Woods! I suggest you go make your little show at the principal’s office right the hell now. And that is not a suggestion, it is an order. Go!” The furious English teacher all but yelled at the cocky figure skater, who, despite being barked at in front of the whole group, proudly and gracefully got up and made her way out.

She kept her gaze fixed on the fuming woman’s the whole time.

When Sofia closed the class’s door and the room fell silent, Kristopher lifted his arms in victory.

“And the smartass Woods is out! Suddenly I love English class.”

“Shut up Kristopher, you just wish you were like her.” Charlotte, quite ironically, came to Sofia’s defense.

Wyatt’s couldn’t believe his eyes.

Perhaps Charlotte Vidovic wasn’t as despicable as his best friend deemed her to be.

Interesting.

@@@@

Thursday morning came around in a blurry of bright luminous golden rays as the burning sun shone high and early in the cloudless morning sky while the crisp air of fall left a serene sent in the ever-bustling streets of New York City. Clarke wasn’t needed at BHC until noon, as was Octavia at the school she worked at. In Raven’s case, well, it seemed like being the head of Data Center for Google had its perks. So when Bellamy came knocking at their apartment door with a bright boyish grin and his arms full of heavenly breakfast pastry bags, the three women were delighted at the coincidence of the four of them having time off at the same time, which was a rare occurrence these days, and welcomed the older Blake with open arms. Except for Raven. Raven went straight for the food in the boy’s arms and snatched it from his hold as she shot Octavia’s brother a rushed ‘ _are those freshly baked croissants I smell? Oh hey, Bell nice to see you!_ ’, to which the older man only fondly rolled his eyes at, used to the small genius’s antics.

They were now eating on the girls’ small balcony around an even smaller roundtable, the four friends content at being able to soak in the warm sun while enjoying each other’s company before they’d eventually have to part in favor to go to work.

”I’m just sayin’, Alicia Clark is a top and she needs a girlfriend and that’s that”, Raven said as she smashed her hand on the table a little too hard, resulting in knocking a few jam jars.

The Blake siblings each made approving faces while Clarke’s looked uncertain.

“Damn right she is!” Bellamy said with a lot more conviction than what was necessary and blushed a crimson red when his sister and Raven cocked a brow at him. Clarke still looked clueless as she drank her coffee in confused silence.

“What? I love a strong, independent badass woman is all.” The sheepish man said a bit defensively while Octavia looked horrified. “Ew, too much information, big brother!”

Meanwhile, Raven had a shit-eating smirk plastered on her face “That’s how I like my women, I would totally let her top me any time if she wanted to”, making scandalized looks appear on Clarke and Octavia’s faces as she clinked her cup of coffee with Bellamy’s.

“Don’t objectify her like that! Also, who the hell is Alicia Clark? Is she a model or something?” The blonde inquired as three sets of jaws fell open at their friend’s lack of television knowledge.

“You don’t know who Alicia Clark is?”, the engineer gasped indignantly while the two siblings fixed Clarke with shocked faces.

Clarke furrowed her brown confusedly as she took a bite of her croissant. “Should I?”

“Yes, you should!”, they all shouted in unison and Clarke snorted at the scene in front of her. Her friends, her adult friends, acted like a bunch of offended five-year-olds.

“Well, are you going to tell me who she is or not?”, she said as she amusingly crossed her arms over her chest.

Bellamy sighed and dramatically pulled off his glasses as he gazed right into her sky blue eyes. “Only the best AMC character ever.”

Clarke scrunched up her nose, she hadn’t had a clue to what the hell was an _AMC_.

“AMC? What is that?”

Octavia slapped her own forehead and Raven grasped her by the shoulders with a dead serious look swimming in her warm browns.

Bellamy straight up looked insulted.

“TV, Clarke. It’s a TV channel. Alicia Clark is the main character of Fear The Walking Dead.”, the Latina said like she expected Clarke to suddenly remember all of that.

For the life of her, the blonde couldn’t recall a single thing that just got out of her brilliant friend’s mouth.

Yeah, being in med school didn’t let her much time to watch TV.

When she saw the blank look in Clarke’s blues, Octavia scoffed in disbelief. “Seriously, Clarke? Are you telling us you’ve never heard of Fear The Walking Dead?”

She shrugged. “I mean I know The Walking Dead, though I’ve never heard of Fear the Walking Dead.”

“Then let’s fix this.”, the fiery jet black haired PE teacher declared while Raven and Bellamy both firmly nodded in approval.

“Yeah, I’ve got every season on DVDs back home.”

“DVDs? It’s 2018, who even buys DVDs? Nerd.” Raven poked him in the chest with her pointer finger with a sassy grin on her lips.

Octavia rolled her eyes as she looked at her Latina friend while eating a spoon full of Nutella which made her brother cringe because he always claimed it wasn’t ‘sanitary’, and that the hazelnuts spread would get all ‘contaminated’ with germs. Octavia couldn’t care less, she lived with her two best friends who did the exact same thing all the time. Bellamy could be such a drama Queen, she didn’t know where he got that from. Though, it could be a hilarious thing to witness.

“I’ll have you know DVDs are still very much a thing, thank you very much. Not the point, though. Clarke, if you think you’re going away without watching a least one season of Fear then you’re entirely wrong. We’re all going to re-watch it together. Starting tonight, ladies.” The older Blake said with resolve as he smashed his index on the table to put emphasis on the word ‘tonight’.

“I’m working.” Clarke flatly replied, drinking the last of her coffee as she started to gather their empty dishes to put them in the dishwasher. “Actually, I should get going soon. Sorry guys, I’ll have to raincheck.”

Her friends followed her lead and began to clean their breakfast space and involuntarily bumped into each other a few times since the balcony was so tiny.

“But Claaarke!! _Alicia Clark_ and _Lexa Woods_.” Raven whined at the behest of their friends, who also complained in the back as she handed a small pile of dirty plates to the blonde, which she quickly rinsed off before she also put them in the dishwasher while the Blakes put the butter, jams, and spreads in the fridge.

Clarke shook her head, since when did she become such a mother?

“I’m sorry, I can’t. Who’s Lexa Woods, though?”

They stopped dead in their tracks and gasped collectively as Raven threw her arms up in the air in exaggerated exasperation. “Oh, _come on_! Clarke do you live in a cave or what? She plays Alicia Clark and is a huge deal actress in Hollywood. I can’t believe you don’t know who she is! Commander in chief? Station 13? The 100? Wait, that sucked. I only watched it because she was in it, thank fuck it’s over. Hunted? Zara Parker? And now Fear The Walking Dead? Have you really never heard of all these series and movies before? Clarke, she even played in The Avengers. _The Avengers_ , Clarke!”

The girl in question only chuckled at the baffled girl wildly gesticulating next to her.

“TV never really was my thing, I preferred to draw and paint in my free times which are practically nonexistent since I’m in med school. I guess I have some catching up to do.”

Raven tapped her on the head as she shook her head from side to side and made a tsking sound.

“My child, you have _no_ idea.”

@@@@

Lexa was having a mentally hard day.

Since she talked to her sister last night, she couldn’t stop thinking about Sofia’s sad royal blue eyes and how disappointed she had looked upon receiving the news that she’d have to begin her competition without Lexa by her side.

But what pained the actress the most was the fact that the younger girl closed herself off and didn’t seem like she wanted her comfort. Although, seeing as she was the very source of the teenaged girl’s dismay, Lexa couldn’t do much else but understand and wait for Sofia to come to her in her own terms.

In general, Lexa was recognized for her utmost patience.

But when it came to Sofia and their relationship, the green-eyed actress felt like it was her duty to protect at all cost what they shared and when something happened or they got into a fight, she was absolutely helpless to the strong surge of desperation to do everything in her power to fix whatever issues were at end. In this case, Lexa couldn’t stand by and do nothing while waiting for the universe’s help.

But she couldn’t force her sister to talk to her if she didn’t want to.

That was what she confessed to her best friend as they sat at hair and makeup in between scenes, Echo patiently listening to everything she had to say without interrupting her once. She would voice her thoughts on the matter only when Lexa was done, and that was one of the things she liked best about the woman she’d known for almost twenty years.

She was in the middle of her recall of last night’s events when her phone started to ring with Kongeda High displayed on her iPhone’s screen. Pulling her brows down in a confused frown and shrugging when Echo glanced at her curiously, Lexa slid her thumb on the screen to accept the call.

“Am I talking to Ms. Alexandria Jasmine Woods?” The voice at the other end sounded painfully formal and it made the cogs in her head spin. Had something happened?

“Yes, this is she.” The brunette replied in an equally as professional tone, noticing her co-star attentively listening in the corner of her eye.

“This is Becca Premheda, I am your sister’s school principal. I have been told that Sofia Brooklyn has caused perturbation in Nia Snow’s class and has been sent to my office. I called to ask you to take her home, where she will have to put to paper a reflection regarding her behavior and copy Kongeda High’s code of conduct due for tomorrow morning sharp.”

Lexa paused.

“Pardon me? My sister’s behavior, what happened?” Sofia was quite the character, yes, but she certainly wasn’t a troublemaker. The older Woods had trouble wrapping her head around the fact that her sister was sent off to the principal’s office, something that had never occurred in the past. Surely there must have been a misunderstanding.

Becca repeated herself, sounding as unfazed and distant than the first time. “It appears Sofia has been arrogant and disrespectful towards her English teacher, according to the note I received shortly after Ms. Woods stepped into my office.”

Lexa had to swallow a snort. Of course, Nia Snow would pull something like that. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but my sister would never do such things and I think Ms. Snow might have been exaggerating in sending her here.”

The brunette beauty could hear a slightly impatient sigh coming from the other woman’s side of the phone and it made her clench her jaw just a bit. “Look, Ms. Woods, I have better things to do than arguing with my students’ parents. I was not there to judge whether or not Sofia really did act poorly towards her teacher or not, I’m just following the school’s protocol when a student gets sent to my office. Now, can I trust that you will come get your sister?”

“I’m on my way. Thank you, Mrs. Premheda.” She flatly said as she hung up without waiting for an answer.

On their way home, it was absolute silence in Lexa’s Mercedes. Sofia had her head on her fist as she very pointedly looked through the window and avoided her sister’s gaze.

When she got to Kongeda High, Sofia was waiting for her in the school’s lobby and Lexa was a little surprised that she didn’t even need to meet with the principal for her sister to be released for the day. She expected some kind of lecture or warning but there was nothing. The principal never even got out of her office to see Sofia out. Instead, her teenaged sister sat alone on a small chair that looked much too uncomfortable until Lexa came to pick her up. It was fairly unprofessional, to be honest. She pushed her thoughts to the side in order to try and bring up the subject of Sofia’s early school exit, the figure skater wouldn’t just get away with it.

The older girl firmly gripped the steering wheel and looked straight ahead, speaking in a composed tone.

“So, ‘want to tell me why I got a call from Becca Premheda asking me to come get you at school and leave my work in the middle of the day?”

The girl shrugged indifferently, still not looking at Lexa.

“I was bored, ‘thought I’d get Ms. Snow riled up for fun. It worked, but I got kicked out from her class. That’s pretty much it.”

Lexa snorted without a trace of humor in the gesture, there was something in her younger sister’s nonchalant behavior that didn’t sit well with her. Not well at all.

“ _That’s pretty much it_? Is that seriously all you’ve got? I want to know what you did to be sent to your Principal’s office. I know how Nia Snow can twist things, but she wouldn’t have sent you there for anything. Mrs. Premheda told me you were arrogant and disrespectful, I would like to hear your own, honest version of the events that lead you to an expulsion.”

Radio silence.

Something was wrong with Sofia, she could tell by how her shoulders sagged forward and by the slight, almost imperceptible crinkle between the athletic girl's brows. She was upset.

Lexa knew she probably was the reason why.

She felt yet another pang guilt hit her.

“Sof…”

“Mrs. Premheda was right; I did act like a haughty jerk and I deserved what came to me. Happy?” Sofia let out dryly as Lexa pulled up in their entryway and turned her head to look at her sister in the eyes.

“Perhaps you’re not ready to have a real conversation with me, and I’m not only talking about today’s incident. It’s alright, take all the time you need to think, I have to go back to work anyway. I’ll see you for supper.” The older brunette spoke softly.

When Sofia went to get out of the car and into their home, Lexa called her name and this time she turned around to see wide forests gazing intently at her.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Lexa had to strain to hear it, as it was barely there. A shadow of a whisper getting caught in the warm afternoon breeze.

But for now, it was enough.

@@@@

After a long shift at the hospital filled with sowing nasty stitches, the occasional appendicitis surgeries, casting a couple of fractured bones, evaluating new patients and visiting her regular ones and, finally, a short routine meeting with Dr. Danvers, her supervisor and one of the finest neurosurgeons out there, Clarke felt revivified by the sense of accomplishment helping people brought her.

Also, the fact that Dr. Alexandra Danvers told her she’s doing so well that Clarke would have a spot waiting for her at BHC when she completed her studies if she continued like that made the blonde feel light and hopeful.

So when she and Lincoln met at the entrance of the hospital to go pick up his niece from school after work, her parents were away for business and so he was babysitting the little girl in the meantime, Clarke was all smiley and cheery. Upon seeing her best friend, the golden-haired future doctor’s eyes brightened and she threw her arms around his fit frame in a tight hug as the dark-skinned man chuckled and squeezed her right back.

“Hey C, what’s gotten into you, did you eat rainbows or what? You look so joyous”, he said good-naturedly as he lifted three fingers in the air to hail a cab and opened the door for her when the yellow taxi pulled up next to the curb to let her in first.

“I’m just happy.” Clarke sighed contentedly.

And really it was true, life recently had been amazing for her. She had just begun an internship in her hometown where she got to work alongside her best friend of years, she had been praised by a true professional, she lived with her oldest friends and got to hang out with them this morning around a delicious breakfast. So yes, Clarke felt great.

Lincoln fondly glanced at her. “That’s what I like to hear, Griff.”

Clarke smiled back at him. “What about you though, how are you?”

Lincoln loved how caring his friend was, it was perhaps the best thing about Clarke and definitely the first thing he noticed about the girl when they first met in art class on their freshman year at Ton DC High, their high school at the time.

He remembers when this bright blue-eyed blonde girl walked up to his table, where he was sitting on his own, being surrounded by tons of people was never his forte as he preferred to be alone, and Clarke then sat on the empty stool across him and started to sketch whatever went through her mind at that moment. Minutes passed before either of them uttered a word to the other, only when the silent boy lifted his head from his sketchbook did Clarke presented herself to him before she took a look at the highly detailed, beautifully realistic representation he had drawn of a magnificent forest brought to life by old willow and oak trees and what looked like glowing flowers that covered the earthy ground like a silky luminous rug under a velvety night sky whose shooting stars rendered the blonde speechless.

The whole piece was absolutely splendiferous.

With her jaw to the floor, the fourteen years old version of Clarke Griffin had then eulogized him with amazed baby blues and made the reserved boy humbly thank her before he peaked at her own work and looked impressed at the portrait of him she had drawn with charcoal. It was from only minutes previous when Lincoln was finishing his piece, he had a slight furrow in his brows as he looked very concentrated. The early morning sun illuminating the left side of his angular face was impeccably depicted and he was shocked by how on point her representation of himself was. In awe, he had told the young artist sitting in front of him just how much he thought her piece was amazing and the blonde beauty had beamed.

The two of them have been best friends ever since.

“A little tired, but other than that I’m great. It had been a while since I’ve last seen Rey, so I was happy to babysit her for a few days. She actually has a figure skating competition this weekend, I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it when she sees you. The girl hasn’t stop blabbering about it all week long, she’s adorable.” He chuckled with an adoring grin on his face, Clarke laughing along with him. That definitely sounded like Rey Logan-Bowman. Clarke herself was very fond of her best friend’s six-year-old niece.

As they went on and on about the cute girl’s endearing antics and peculiar manners, the Afro-American middle-aged driver parked the cab in front of Polaris Elementary School before he glanced at the two med students chattering on the back row and told them they had arrived at their destination.

As Lincoln finished to pay and thank the older man, a high-pitched shriek coming from behind them made Clarke and Lincoln turn around, both already knowing whose voice it was.

An excited light chocolate skinned little girl with wild black curly hair and piercing grey eyes bearing a pearly white dress shirt tucked into a cute little checkered skirt came running at them and flung herself in Clarke’s awaiting open arms, the blonde thoughtlessly hoisting Rey up as Lincoln’s niece laced her tiny arms around the older girl’s pale neck.

“CLARKIEEEE!” The adorable six-year-old exclaimed in delight as her uncle approached them while chuckling at his niece’s cheerful cry, Clarke had always been Rey’s idol ever since his best friend had ‘resuscitated’ his older brother Nyko’s daughter’s favorite rag doll by sewing its arm back on its body. Rey had then looked at her with wide impressionable clear eyes filled with awe and amazement and she had claimed Clarke as her favorite person from that point on.

“Hey Monkey! How are we doing today, Missy?” Clarke asked as Rey locked her smaller legs around the blonde’s waist.

“Fantastical baby! You’re here!” Rey cried out in joy and made Clarke grin from ear to ear at the cuteness overload.

“Yes, and I am very happy to see you. So, I’ve heard you have a competition this weekend, am I correct?” She asked even though she already knew the answer.

Rey’s whole body brightened up at the mention of her figure skating competition and Clarke swooned while Lincoln watched with his arms folded on his chest and a knowing smirk plastered on his lips. He knew what was coming.

“YES PLEASE CLARKE COME SEE ME SKATE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!” The little girl gesticulated her arms wildly in a pleasing motion, though she wouldn’t need it. Clarke was a slave to Rey Logan-Bowman's every whim. She adored Lincoln’s niece, of course she would go see her at her competition.

“Hmm, I guess I could.” Clarke rubbed her chin as she pretended to think about it.

“Please! My favorite person in the whole world! Say yes, Clarkie-Boo!”

Clarke’s face broke into a large smile, Rey was simply too adorable for her own good.

“I can promise you I’ll be there to cheer for you in the stands with uncle Linc. Does that sound like a good plan to you, Monkey?” Clarke asked sweetly.

“FABULOUS!! THANK YOU CLARKE!” Rey yelled in excitement and dropped butterfly kisses on the blonde’s cheeks, making Clarke melt.

When she was done, Rey looked at her uncle and cocked her head to the side.

“Linki?”

He lifted an eyebrow at her as he picked up her Ariel school bag from the ground where she had dropped earlier in favor to jump in his best friend’s arms.

“I’m hungry, can we go eat?”

He chuckled and fondly rolled his eyes.

“Of course you are.”

@@@@

“Lexie I’m so sorry”, Sofia said in a shaky voice and with glistening ocean eyes as soon as Lexa entered their house when she got back from work. The older Woods dropped her bags and made her way to her little sister, cupping her cheeks with a concerned frown on her beautifully sculpted face.

“Hey, none of this. If anything, I should be the one to apologize.” Lexa spoke in a soft whisper, remorse flashing in her expressive green depths. Sofia’s gaze steeled at that.

While her sister was at work, Sofia had thought a lot about the past twenty-four hours. While she had every right to feel disappointed and sad that Lexa had to change their plans last minute, that didn’t give her the right to make her older sister, the one person Sofia knew who would do absolutely anything for her, feel bad about it. It was out of Lexa’s control. Being an actress meant she had a lot more commitments than most people who had normal jobs with normal eight to five shifts did, and Sofia had to accept that. She did, though sometimes it could be hard. There were days where she wished she didn’t have to share Lexa with the whole planet, but that was part of their reality and that was fine. Lexa was an exceptional actress and deserved all the attention she received. She had reacted poorly and she knew it. She shouldn’t have let her emotions get the better of her and be such a bitch to her teacher, even though Ms. Snow was the devil incarnated and it was very satisfying to rile her up in front of the whole class.

Most importantly, she shouldn’t have given the cold shoulder to Lexa. That was uncalled for and totally unfair of her. Lexa wasn’t in the wrong here, she was.

“No, you shouldn’t. Listen Jas, I didn’t handle things the way I should have. Let’s be honest, I was very rude to my teacher for absolutely no valuable reason and even worse, I avoided you and made you feel bad about something you cannot control. I let my disappointment cloud my judgment and for that, I’m utterly sorry. It won’t happen again, I hate it when we fight, it makes me feel terrible. For the record, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Lexa was speechless. That was so mature of the fifteen-year-old figure skater.

Her eyes got wet again, for the zillion time in the past day. If she weren’t so moved by her sister, Lexa would have rolled her eyes at herself.

Still searching for something to reply to Sofia, Lexa put her hands off the younger girl’s face only to engulf her in a tight embrace as she planted a kiss on top of her silky dark mane.

“I love you, Bunny. You make me so proud. I understand why you reacted the way you did, it wasn’t necessarily the best thing to do, but you realized it and did something about it. That was incredibly mature of you, love. I can’t wait for Saturday, I know you will be fantastic. Whatever might happen in New York, I will always think the world of you.” Lexa lovingly declared as Sofia snuggled deeper into her embrace.

“And I, you,” Sofia whispered just loud enough for her big sister to hear her.

Just like that, everything was right again.

It was time for New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, we're ALMOST there!!! Hang on, Clexa is coming*.* 
> 
> I can't wait to read what you all thought about this new update:))


	5. Of competition and interviews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Sofia's big day y'all! Oh and Lexa goes on Ellen, no biggies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back from war you guys! I couldn't wait to finally be done with this chapter so you guys could read it because I know it's been 84 years since my last update:$$ On the bright side though: I'M DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL!! I'm so incredibly happy you guys have no idea how I hated that horrible place^^ Anyway, this is the last chapter before the Clexa meeting and I am so excited to write them at last.
> 
> Enjoy your almost 20 page-long chapter!

It was five am when Lexa’s alarm went off and started to blare in her room.

Today was finally Sofia’s big day, and even if Lexa wouldn’t be able to take off to New York with her little sister just yet, that didn’t mean she couldn’t do something nice for her.

So without having to think about it twice, she got out of her ridiculously comfortable king-sized bed and went straight to the kitchen, where she concocted what she deemed was a ‘power breakfast’ consisting of a pineapple and kale smoothie with multigrain toasts and scrambles eggs on the side for her athlete sister.

When that was done, Lexa discreetly made her way back upstairs to Sofia’s room to gently shake the girl awake, which wasn’t an easy task. Sofia was a hell of a heavy sleeper, as opposed to herself. That’s why she wasn’t surprised at all when her little sister didn’t even move an inch as Lexa softly called her name to wake her up. Each time she got louder and each time Sofia remained as oblivious as a sleeping bear. Quickly figuring out this technique wouldn’t work, Lexa decided to try something new, something that would undeniably make her bolt up from her comatose-like state. Carefully bringing her right thumb and pointer finger to the girl’s face, Lexa leaned down and delicately pinched the figure skater’s nose.

Needless to say, it worked instantly.

Sofia immediately sat up as she gasped for air and Lexa would have felt a little guilty for waking her up so rudely, had it not been for the absolutely hilarious face Sofia made as she looked like a startled squirrel.

“Jas what the hell!”, the teenager cried out as her older sister was having a lot of trouble hiding her amusement at the blue-eyed Wood’s panicked wide eyes.

“Sorry! I had to wake you up somehow, Anya’s picking you up in an hour and you need to get ready to leave. I made you breakfast, by the way, ” Lexa said with a sheepish smile gracing her features at the slightly murderous glare Sofia was throwing at her, though it quickly vanished as soon as the actress mentioned their cousin. Their cousin that had agreed to come to New York with her, much to Sofia’s delight and Lexa’s immense relief. Instead, a look of pure excitement took place in her deep royal eyes and Sofia almost jumped out of her bed in her eagerness, it made Lexa chuckle fondly.

“You’re lucky I’m too apprehensive to be mad at you right now because if you had pulled that little stunt literally any other day, I would have skinned you alive, Alexandria Jasmine, ” she said as she put on her club’s hoodie before going downstairs to eat, Lexa in tow.

“I know, believe me. But you’re so hard to wake up I swear, it took me forever to make your eyes open. I was getting a little desperate here, give the girl some credit for having thought of such an original way to get you out of your slumber, ” the older girl said as she poured herself a generous cup of black coffee in her favorite mug, the one that Sofia had decorated for her for Mother’s Day when she was eight. Lexa still remembers how deeply moved and touched she had felt at her baby sister’s innocent yet so meaningful gesture. The mug was a soft yet bright yellow, Lexa’s favorite color, and had a picture of a teenaged Lexa with an untamed, wild frizzy chestnut mane holding a laughing little Sofia by the waist as the toddler sat on her shoulders, the two girls were surrounded by trees and pines and had sparkling eyes. Around the small rectangle, Polaroid photograph rested multiple tiny plastic diamonds and silver glitter. Finally, right above the memory of the Woods sisters together, painted in cherry red, was the inscription ‘My favorite human in the world’. Lexa never drank her coffee with any other mug.

“Sure, credit for traumatizing me while you could have just, you know, whispered my name in my ear until I woke up like a normal person, ” Sofia replied between two bites of scrambled eggs.

The twenty-seven-year-old snorted audibly at that. “Like I didn’t try. It’s not my fault you sleep like a grizzly waiting for summer to come back!”

Before the figure skater could have the chance to fire back a reply, their front door suddenly opened as none other than their older cousin barged into the house like it was her own and met the younger girls in the kitchen.

“Alright you idiots, stop bickering like kindergarteners. It’s six am and I am definitely _not_ awake enough to deal with your immature antics, ” Anya said in the no-nonsense tone that was so proper to her person.

The Woods siblings immediately stopped talking and Sofia, the little excited gummy bear she was, jumped off her seat to go encircled her arms around her grumpy cousin’s shoulders.

“An! Ready to leave for New York?”

The older woman softened as she always did around her younger cousin, a little grin showing on her face. “I sure am, Bug. The question is: are you?”

Blue eyes shone with glee.

“I can’t wait anymore!”

Anya grabbed her by the shoulders and looked directly into her eyes with a smirk. “Then you better go change, our flight leaves in three hours.”

As Sofia bolted to her room, Anya took a seat next to Lexa and drank from the actress’s cup of coffee. Lexa didn’t look fazed by any means, she was used to her older cousin’s lack of reservation.

“So, Lexie-looh, how are we holding up in there?”, the tall blonde asked sincerely as she gave her undivided attention to Lexa, who, now that Sofia wasn’t with them, looked nervous and insecure.

“I am..managing. Thank God you could go with her, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable at all letting her go there all by herself. Even if technically, she wouldn’t have been alone but still, you know what I mean, ” Lexa said as she gazed in the direction of the staircase that led upstairs, where her sister just had gone.

“I do. That wasn’t a problem for me in any way, I am more than happy to help and get to spend some time with the squirrel. I can’t wait to see her in her dress, I’m certain she looks amazing in it.”

Lexa wore a tender smile as she thought of Sofia in the dress they had bought that day at The Grove when they went shopping for her competition. Sofia was absolutely splendid in it.

“She sure does.”

After a couple of minutes of the Woods women exchanging and going over the game plan until Lexa could fly to New York once more, Sofia came back from her room with two absurdly big suitcases filled to the brim with what Anya judged was a lot more clothes than needed for barely four days. She had to suppress an eye roll.

Lexa and Sofia Woods, these extra princesses.

“I have all the faith in the world in you, you will be extraordinary out there. I know it, ” Lexa whispered in her little sister’s ear while she pulled her in for a fierce bear hug as the three of them stood in front of Anya’s car. Sofia held her just as tightly as she rested her head on Lexa’s shoulder.

“Call me whenever you want, I want to know everything. I love you, my little ice princess.”

And with a final squeeze and a kiss on Sofia’s forehead, Lexa let go of her sister to go hug goodbye their cousin and thanked her one more time before they finally parted.

As Lexa looked Anya’s car driving away until she couldn’t see it anymore, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness and was already missing Sofia.

When she got back inside their house, the actress beauty posted a picture of her sister at her very first ice skating competition ever on her Twitter account, a gold medal around her neck and a blinding smile with a few holes where her baby teeth had fallen.

 ** _@woodsl_** : _NYC you don’t know what’s coming for you! Good luck again for today, Bunny. Sending you positive energy from L.A and see you tomorrow <3_

 _ **@woodssupporter**_ : **_@woodsl_** _OMG THIS IS SO CUTE I CAN’T WITH YOU TWO_  
**_@alexandriadaily_** : _ **@woodsl**_ _aw baby Sofia <3 best of luck to your sister!_  
**_@echoteles_** : _**@woodsl**_ _there’s my little champ, go Sof!_  
_**@commanderwoods**_ : _**@woodsl**_ _you two are #siblingsgoals I swear_  
_**@cheryltopaz**_ : _**@woods**_ _WHY AM I CRYING OVER THIS JDNSJSJJS SO CUTE_  
_**@suprcorpendgame**_ : _**@woodsl**_ _LOVE THIS <333_  
_**@alexis: @woodsl**_ _Sofia is off to kick some serious asses_  
_**@chonisual: @woodsl**_ _oml this is too cute to handle_

Only a couple of hours until she could see her again.

@@@@

After a relatively uneventful morning shift at the hospital, Clarke and Lincoln quickly got out of their scrubs and left BHC to retrieve Rey from school before they all met Raven and Octavia at Grounded for lunch. Rey’s competition was right that afternoon and to say she was excited would be the understatement of the year.

When she got out of class and saw her uncle Linc and ‘Clarkie’ waiting for her in the school lobby, the little girl was literally bouncing up and down in evident delight before she straight up ran in the blonde’s arms just like she did the last time she saw her.

“Clarkeeee! You came, you came!”, the six-year-old happily exclaimed once in Clarke’s arms.

“Of course I did, I promised I would! Now, I hope you’re hungry because we’re going out for lunch with Raven and Octavia at Grounded before we head for your ice skating competition, ” Clarke said and Rey fist bump in the air at the mention of Clarke’s funny friends.

“RaeRae and Tavia, yay!” Lincoln flinched a little at his niece’s piercing cry of joy, her voice was fairly high-pitched.

“I thought you would be happy to see them, now come on before we’re late!”, the tall man chuckled breathily while he took her from Clarke’s arms to settle her over his broad shoulders. Rey’s little giggles at the motion were honestly too cute and Clarke looked at the two with adoration in her blues.

When they got at their favorite coffee shop, Raven and Octavia were already waiting for them at their usual booth with a cup of fuming dark brown liquid each in front of them as they appeared to be in a heated debate about something that Clarke was almost positively certain was utterly vacuous. For some reason, her two brunette friends had a tendency to bicker over dumb things despite being both extremely intelligent women. She loved them anyway. Plus, it served as a pretty humoristic show for anyone who paid attention. When she went to sit with them while Lincoln took Rey to the bathroom, Raven and Octavia we’re arguing about some weird Yanny vs Laurel stuff, Clarke didn’t have a clue what that was about. Though, it looked like they were pretty invested in their dispute if the Latina’s intense Spanish rambling and the black-haired Blake girl’s deep scowl were anything to go by.

“Hey, you two, ” the blonde student carefully greeted as she shrugged off her classic beige trench coat and draped it on the back of the wooden chair right beside Raven. They were so caught up in their fierce discussion that it was like they didn’t even register her presence.

“Jesus fuck, O! Are you fucking deaf or what? Clearly, this stupid ass robot’s voice is saying Laurel!”, the tan-skinned engineer loudly exclaimed which earned her an indignant scoff from the PE teacher as she crossed her arms and let them rest on the table.

“Like hell it is! It’s literally saying Yanny, Reyes, fight me,” Octavia defiantly replied while cocking a brow at her friend. Meanwhile, Clarke was looking at them with an entertained smirk plastered on her red painted lips.

“Oh, you can bet your round little ass I will, Blake. Put-”

“RAVENNN!”

The excited shriek of a delighted Rey storming to the engineer’s chair with her tiny arms extended in the direction of the older girl put an end to Raven and Octavia’s argument as the Latina picked the six-year-old up and placed her in her lap before she planted one on the little girl’s adorable chubby cheek.

“If this ain’t my favorite little nugget gracing me with her wonderful presence! Is my queen ready to kick asses this afternoon?”, Raven asked as Lincoln and Clarke scowled at her choice of words.

“READY TO KICK ASSES!”, Rey then happily parroted which made Octavia snort before she saw the look on the little girl’s uncle’s face.

“Don’t you dare corrupt my niece, Raven Reyes, ” Lincoln said just as a lean young man with light blonde wavy hair stacked in a neat bun came at their table to take their orders. The waiter wore a wine red apron around his waist and a clean black polo tucked into charcoal colored pants and sported an easy grin as he took out his notepad from his apron’s front pocket. The name “Simon” was written on the hazel-eyed boy’s tag on his short-sleeved polo.

“Hi guys, my name is Simon and I’ll be your waiter for today. Are you all ready to order?”

“Pizza!”, the young ice skater grinned from ear to ear at the prospect of food and made everyone around her chuckled as she took the knife and fork in front of her in each of her hands and raised them on the table.

“I’ll take that as a yes then, ” the tall blonde waiter replied with a boyish smile and began to take the small group’s orders while Lincoln, who sat next to Octavia, amusedly cocked his brow at his niece.

“I’m not so sure pizza is an appropriate meal right before going on the ice, sweetie. ‘Wouldn’t want you to puke in front of everybody while performing now, would we?”

Rey pouted and Lincoln almost felt like forgetting all about what he just said and giving her everything she wanted, though he knew they both would finish by regretting it so he stuck with the reasonable decision.

“Why don’t you take a salad? I know for a fact that they make excellent Mediterranean salads here, it would be perfect to eat before you hit the ice and it would spare you the fear of vomiting in front of the whole audience and the jury. What do you think, pumpkin?”

The six-year-old made a disgusted face and the dark-skinned intern had his answer.

“A.. _salad_?”

Clarke, Octavia, and Raven burst out laughing at the pure disdain plastered all over their friend’s niece’s cute little face and even Simon had to restrain from smiling too much at the typical hate for anything that was green and healthy kids her age had. Luckily for Lincoln, who looked a little defeated, the blonde boy jumped in and came to his rescue, he knew just what the little girl with wild dark curls would like.

“I’ve been told I make amazing French toasts, which contain all the proteins you need and are easy to digest. I can give her that if you want, ” Simon kindly asked as he patiently looked at Lincoln, and then at the little girl who perked up the moment the words French toasts left his mouth.

 _Bingo_.

“I love French toasts!”

The friendly waiter winked at her as he scribbled the last orders, making Rey beam.

“Alright, ‘looks like we have a winner! I’ll bring you just that, cutie. Your food should be ready in about twenty minutes, ” he then said to everyone before the group thanked him as Simon left.

Lincoln sighed in relief.

_Crisis averted._

“So, little Rey, have you ever heard about that audio thingy called Yanny vs Laurel?”

“ _Raven Emilia Reyes_!”

@@@@

Sofia and Anya landed in New York City around noon, eastern time, before they arrived at the Fire and Ice competition in Brooklyn around one. The smile on the dark-haired athlete’s face when they drove around the Big Apple’s bustling streets was as wide as her twinkling amazed sapphire depths as she looked through the typical yellow new york taxi’s window in the back seat of the cab while Anya snapped pictures after pictures of the teenager to send to Lexa.

After they had registered Sofia, the Woods cousins went to eat a light lunch at a Starbucks near the location of the competition and they were now in the figure skater’s club’s assigned room to get ready for Sofia’s qualifications which were taking place in less than an hour and a half, Anya doing the girl’s hair and makeup since Lexa wasn’t there to do it this time. Next to them sat Wyatt, who was working intently on sleeking his shoulder length dirty blonde hair back with what Sofia thought was a ridiculous amount of hair gel, making it look like he hadn’t showered in days so much his hair looked oily. The three of them were currently gossiping about their potential opponents as was the two teenagers’ tradition before a competition and Anya was more than happy to tag along.

“So, Brooksie, I’ve heard _Fire and Ice_ has a pretty high level of competition coming from all around North America. Anyone you worry about?”, Wyatt asked as he put the final touch to his hair before he turned in his seat to look his best friend in the eyes. Both Anya and the boy didn’t miss for a second the slight clench of Sofia’s jaw followed by a deep roll of her blue eyes before she answered her figure skating partner’s question.

“Not really, I think if I give my hundred percent I can win this thing. The only real threat I have is _she-who-shall-not-be-named_ , ” the girl replied while looking straight into the mirror and avoiding any possible eye contacts with either her cousin or best friend on purpose.

Wyatt had the biggest smirk as he pointedly cocked his eyebrow at her.

Sofia didn’t like it one bit.

“You can say her name, you know. It’s not like it’s cursed or something.”

Anya, who was in the much too long process of curling her cousin’s thick mane with Lexa’s curling iron that Sofia had _kind of_ taken without _exactly_ asking (oops), looked up from her tedious task when she heard a little groan coming out of the younger girl’s mouth at the boy’s words, curious to know what was that about.

“It may as well be! Nearly every single time I skate against her I skate like total shit and she beats me, so I won’t take any chance.”

The older Woods looked puzzled as she held one of her hands in the air while searching for something that would explain her little cousin’s strange behavior between the two teenagers’ eyes. “Wait, hold up. I’m kind of lost here, guys. Who is _she-who-shall-not-be-named_ and why do you look like you could burn this entire room with heat vision?”, she said as she met Sofia’s stormy blues through the glass.

And really, how could Sofia began to explain just _who_ Charlotte Vidovic was? Certainly not a friend of hers, that was for sure. The mere thought of herself and that little daddy’s girl hanging out together made the brunette want to cringe badly. The truth was, Sofia couldn’t for the life of her stand that damn Miss Perfect girl who just _had_ to excel in absolutely everything in life while actually being one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen, not that she would _ever_ admit that to anyone, especially not to the two people next to her who she knew would never let her hear the end of it if she did. So she settled on the more obvious reason, that she’s her biggest rival. Because after all, that was what Charlotte Vidovic was to her, competition.

“She’s Charlotte Vidovic A.K.A the most annoying girl in existence and my self-declared enemy on and off the ice, ” the fifteen-year-old said with the best tone of indifference she could muster. Unfortunately for her though, Anya was no fool.

“So you have a crush on her.”

“I most certainly do _not_. Why in the world would you think something _ridiculous_ like that?”, Sofia chuckled nervously and it was all it takes for Anya to confirm her suspicions; something was going on with that girl and Sofia, she wasn’t quite sure what, but something definitely _was_ up. Judging by the conspirational smirk Wyatt bore, Anya decided he probably knew, too.

Sofia Brooklyn Woods had a good ol’ _crush_ on someone.

What a day to be alive.

“It’s in the eyes, it always is with you two, Woods siblings, ” Anya shrugged as she joined the two small braids she made and attached them together at the back of Sofia’s head with a silver bow. She stepped back to contemplate her work and smiled satisfyingly at the figure of her cousin sitting in her director-like chair with her arms crossed stubbornly on her chest.

She looked sensational.

Her dress was a dark, night sky blue and ended at mid-thighs with subtle patterns which made the gown gracefully flow when caught in the wind or when Sofia made any spinning motions with her hips. Its sleeves were long and in an equally as rich, dark blue and were made of nylon, allowing to catch a glimpse of toned arms and pale skin through the thin material. The chest, as well as the petticoat of her cousin’s solo’s adornment, were made of a similar fabric and weren’t see-through like the sleeves. Her back was bare in the open oval area on the rear of the dress which started from the base of her neck and ended in the middle of the brunette’s defined backside, exposing velvety soft skin and the hint of her rotator cuffs. Around the round neckline rested a panoply of neatly organized little diamonds, as well as the area just above her breasts which continued below and encircled her back before meeting just under the low cut of the back in a ‘v’ shape. Finally, there were also shining little sticky diamonds on the contour of the sleeves’ wrists and the oval on the back while the others were more discarded a little bit everywhere on the costume. Overall, the dress resembled a piece of galaxy whose silver stardust glimmered from high in the shining luminescence of an August night sky whose brightest shooting star fell in the spectacular burning form of one Sofia Woods. It was truly a sight of pure beauty and Anya, at this moment, was taken aback by how grown up her small little baby cousin was getting, with her silky dark mahogany locks beautifully framing her gentle facial traits and enlightening her subtle but complimenting makeup. Even with an annoyed little frown on her face, Sofia looked every bit the mature young woman she was developing into each passing day.

Anya was blown away.

“I’ll tell you what, Bug. If that girl doesn’t fall for you in this dress then she’s a fool.”

Sofia tried desperately to hide the girly blush threatening to take over her face, though before she had the time say anything else on the matter her coach knocked three times on the door to make his presence known right as he stepped in and went straight to his two best skaters and clapped them on the shoulder.

“Alright you two, it’ll be your turn to skate in a few minutes. Are you ready? Did you stretch? Do you feel nervous? Don’t be, I know you guys will be great as always,” Roan said with his deep, calming voice while a small grin appeared on his face. When he took in the sight of his golden student, his eyes widened and he whistled in admiration.

“My my Sof, look at you! You are breathtaking, Superstar.”

Anya had a proud glint in her browns as she looked at her cousin with her arms crossed over her chest. “Well, she _is_ a Woods after all. Hi, I’m Anya, Sofia’s cousin.” Anya extended her arm and offered her hand to the brunette’s coach, who promptly shook it with a firm grasp of his much bigger hand.

“I’m Roan, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

They held eye contact for a few seconds before Anya cleared her throat with a smirk as she stepped back from their handshake. “While you appear as good company, I’ll leave you alone with your students, I’m sure you have a motivation speech of some sort already scripted in your head you want to give them so I’m just gonna find my way out. I was done with Sofia, anyway.” Before she left though, Anya beckoned her cousin with her pointer finger to come closer, which the younger girl did with a small grin on her navy blue lips.

When she got close enough, the blonde grabbed her by the shoulders and looked straight into her oceans with a passionate fire burning in her eyes. Sofia squared her shoulders and straightened her back while her heartbeat progressively started to accelerate with the usual thrill she had before performing on ice. It was a feeling she _craved_ , it made her feel invincible and unstoppable.

“Okay Squirrel, this is is it. This is the moment you spent the last months tirelessly working for, the Fire and Ice competition in Brooklyn, New York City. There’s going to be a lot of talented skaters out there, all of them with the same goal as yours: winning the gold. These guys know exactly who you are and how dominant of a skater you can be, so this certainly won’t be a walk in the park. But if there’s one person that can teach them a lesson, it’s you. And I know you can do this, so let’s begin the competition in force and rock those qualifications, let your opponents know just who they are dealing with. Prove them that Sofia Brooklyn Woods isn’t someone to take lightly. Show them who’s in charge. You think you can handle that, babe?”

Apparently, Anya’s little speech had done its magic because the teenager looked ready to go to war as she firmly nodded at her cousin’s question. “I do.”

The older Woods then winked as she gave a final squeeze to the brunette’s muscled shoulders.

“Then let’s go kick some glitter wearing figure skater asses.”

Sofia jutted out her chin in a somewhat cocky display of confidence as she cocked one of her freshly shaved eyebrows and she stood taller at her cousin’s encouragement. “I’ll cut them.”

The older woman had a proud, wolfish smirk on her face as she patted her on the shoulder one more time. “There’s my girl. Oh and remember, fly like a butterfly…”, Anya trailed off to let Sofia finish the iconic Muhammad Ali quote as was tradition for them.

Sofia smiled and flattened her hand right on the spot where her heart was as she picked up where her cousin left.

“Sting like a bee.”

And on that, Anya waved goodbye to the brunette athlete and wished Wyatt good luck before she finally opened the door and left the club’s room to make her way to the ice’s stands with the other parents. At last, when her little cousin’s big moment came, she pulled out her phone from her leather jacket and opened her public snapchat account to live film Sofia’s solo for every fan to see, as most of Lexa’s admirers, which interest in the youngest Woods of the family expanded each day, had voiced their wish to see the talented skater in action.

Double tapping on her screen to make the phone’s camera face her, the blonde then clicked on the record button and smiled when it turned red to greet her followers.

“Hey guys, I know you all wanted to see the little squirrel at her competition and as promised, here I am, talking to my phone while a bunch of strangers look at me like I’m deranged to make you guys happy because you’re all chill and that. Anyways, they’re announcing her as I speak so I should probably shut up and flipped the camera to the ice’s side, have a nice show you all! Go Sof!”

@@@@

Lexa was minutes away from going on live television with Ellen Degeneres and her mind couldn’t be further away from the Warner Brothers studios right now, rather it was hundreds of miles away, in an enormous city with yellow taxis dominating every corner of every street and where nighttime didn’t exist, the very city where her baby sister was most probably blowing everybody’s minds at that very minute with her prowess at figure skating because she was the best damn skater out there.

She knew she should feel grateful and excited to have the chance to be here and she truly was but goddamn it she just really wanted to be in Brooklyn by Sofia’s side as she was supposed to and cheer her on the loudest in the stands.

Lexa was really having a hard time being away from her sister and needed to hear her voice, anything to make her feel the tiniest bit connected to her and so, since she was alone in her dressing room because Indra had left to have a talk with the production in regards of what subjects could or couldn’t be brought up in her interview, the actress fished out her phone from her spare clothes bag and blindly dialed Sofia’s number on hey keyboard.

Unsurprisingly, her sister didn’t pick up but her voicemail alone was enough to make Lexa breathe a little easier and she couldn’t help but close her eyes and smile at Sofia’s dorky programmed answer.

“ _Greetings to you, unknown person on the other end of the line! You have successfully reached Sofia Woods, well either that or you called the wrong number which I hope you didn’t because Jas would definitely kill me if I leaked my own number so let’s hope you are someone I know. Anyway, there’s a good chance I’m skating right now or if not, I’m probably just being a lazy ass who doesn’t want to answer her damn phone. Well, this voicemail is getting much too long so I won’t bother you for much longer. You know the drill, leave a message and I’ll call you back, maybe, and all that. Have a delightful day/evening, you decide, bye now!_ ”

Lexa chuckled, what a number the fifteen-year-old was.

Soon after that, the familiar beeping sound at the end of the voicemail indicated that she could leave a message and Lexa did without having to think about it twice.

“Hey baby, I know you’re busy kicking ass right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking of you and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow to get this super weekend on. I love you lots and lots, bye Sof.” She then hung up just as Indra came in after she knocked three times on Lexa’s dressing room, carrying a fuming cup of green tea in her left hand and her cellphone in her right. Her manager crossed the space between them and wordlessly handed the actress the hot beverage before she sat on the small black sofa in front of Lexa, who cocked her head to the side and slightly furrowed her brows in question for she hadn’t even asked for it.

“To help with your stress”, Indra simply said with a slow shrug of her shoulders like it was only natural for her to do so. Lexa felt enormously grateful for this thoughtful attention and, honestly, it was beyond her, how Indra seemed to always be in tune with her moods by the mere acts of studying her features and subtle quirks, it felt so good to have someone like that in her corner.

With a relieved little stretch of her plump lips, Lexa leaned on over the rustic coffee table between them and cupped the mug in her hands while her manager inclined her head in acknowledgment when the younger woman released a soft ‘thank you’ in gratefulness. Carefully, Lexa took a sip from her still warm tea and closed her eyes in contentment as it made its way into her throat and warmed her from the inside. As always, her green tea worked its magic and instantly relaxed her as a pleased sigh escaped from her mouth before she finally put it down on the table and spoke up.

“How did you know I was stressed out?”

Again, Indra shrugged once before she folded her arms on her chest as she crossed one leg over the other, but there was a knowing glint in her dark eyes when she pointedly glanced at her protégée over the rim of her glasses. “You had that little furrow in your eyebrows you make when you overthink, which is one of your tendencies when you’re feeling overwhelmed or in this case, anxious. I know you since you were a teenager, Alexandria. I don’t know why you still think I won’t pick up on every single one of your cues and body language, is your tea as you please?”, the dark-skinned woman casually finished when she noticed Lexa taking another long sip of her green beverage.

The actress beauty swallowed before she responded and kept the mug cradled in her hands as she answered her manager’s question.

“It’s perfect, and I’ve noticed the subtle taste of honey, just like I like it, thank you. Did you have someone do it or did you do it yourself?”

Indra snorted indignantly.

“Of course I did it myself, like I would ever trust a stranger with anything related to you.”

Lexa shook her head as an amused smirk appeared on her face at the ever protectiveness, sometimes overprotectiveness, of her long-term manager which she also considered a dear friend of hers. “You didn’t have to do that you know, it is just tea after all.”

Indra still wouldn’t have it, not that she expected otherwise of course.

“It does not matter, neither of us knows these people so I won’t take any chance and that is it.” Her tone seemed final and Lexa knew better than to argue with the older woman when it was so. Thus, the brunette decided to change the subject and asked Indra about her interview.

“Alright then, what about your talk with the producers, what kind of questions will I be asked about?” Lexa intertwined her fingers and rested them on her knee after she finished her tea and put her cup on the small table in front of her.

Indra took out a series of small cards from her handbag and handed them to Lexa, who briefly went over what was written on each of them while her manager explained in more details their content and what it implied.

“As you can see, I agreed for them to ask you about _Fear_ and Alicia Clark and your thoughts and what you would wish for her this season after I made it clear that they won’t receive any answer from you should they ask about the rumors concerning the potential role of Elyza Lex and what it would mean for Alicia. Also, when they brought up the subject of your sister, I told them it would be at your discretion and your discretion only. Finally, as always, I reminded each and every one of the producers that your personal and romantic life was irrevocably off limits unless you decide to bring it up yourself”, Indra concluded and waited for the younger woman’s reaction, which came in the form of a small self-deprecating stretch of plum lips by her client.

“Not that I have much to talk about in that specific department, anyway.”  
Indra easily noticed the slight undertones of embarrassment and maybe even a little longing in her statement and was quick to reassure Lexa.

“I don’t see where is the problem in that, you don’t exactly live an ordinary life; you have the official guardianship of your fifteen-year-old sister since almost a decade and you are this outstanding actress in Hollywood whom every damn director wants in their project meanwhile you still manage to be an extraordinary sister and a wonderful role model to Sofia. Sure, that kind of life makes it pretty damn hard to add a girlfriend to the mix, but it is what it is and at the end of the day, you’ve done a hell of a great job with your life _and_ Sofia’s.”

Lexa sighed as she combed a hand through her hair, “I know and I am so glad our life turned out the way it has, though there are times when I lay alone in bed at nights where I wonder if I ever will find someone, I mean I am twenty-seven and I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, there’s got to be something I do wrong at some point even though my lifestyle is fairly different than most people’s.”

Neither of the two women said anything else for a few minutes, Lexa deep in thoughts and Indra knowing to let her be in moments like those.

It was true that Lexa had never been in a long-term, serious relationship before. How could she have been? All of her time was divided solely between everything being an actress implied and her responsibilities towards her sister, nevermind going on dates with actual trustworthy women who weren’t after her for her fame and money or even just for the ‘chance’ of bragging about having had sex with a celebrity. So yes, her love life was in all and for all, nonexistent.

After a little while longer, Indra continued where she left off and what she said succeeded to reassure and comfort Lexa, who now had her head resting on her fists, a little bit. Indra leaned on her forearms as she said, “Lexa, you are an amazing human being, of course, you’ll find yourself a nice woman someday, you just have to be patient. There is someone out there waiting for you and you will find her, I promise. You know, sometimes the most amazing things happen at the most unexpected times, so hold on to this thought because you certainly deserve every amazing thing in the world.”

Lexa didn’t know what to say, for she was so shook to hear something this deep and emotional coming out of _Indra’s_ mouth of all people. It’s not that her manager wasn’t capable of feeling emotions, she simply never let them show. Added to the fact that she just made a long and elaborate speech on how deserving the brunette was when Indra only ever used a minimal number of words to express herself? That was actually really big for the older woman and Lexa was so deeply touched her heart constricted in her chest when she thought about it.

“Wow, Indra I-I don’t know what to say I’m…”, Lexa trailed off, looking a little agape.

“You don’t have to say anything, I just wanted you to understand how proud you should be of yourself and that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you is all.” Indra’s expressive dark browns were proud and soft at the corners when she looked at her pupil through her thin lenses.

Lexa offered her a gentle smile in return and they fell into a comfortable silence until a few short knocks at the door indicating them it was time to go on air broke the peaceful tranquility that had taken place in the room and both women somewhat reluctantly got up and made their way out of the dressing room, Indra along an imposing security guy escorting Lexa to the stage where she would go on live television.

“Showtime,” Her manage mumbled under her breath for only Lexa to hear which earned a small lopsided grin from the younger woman who then responded in kind.

“Showtime indeed.”

A short moment later, she was backstage and waiting for Ellen Degeneres to announce her in front of the large public present in the audience. When the time came, Lexa quickly glanced at Indra who then nodded at her before the actress took a deep breath, put a genuine smile on and finally began to walk in direction of the empty white sofa next to a clapping and smiling Ellen.

The crowd was cheering loudly on their feet and Lexa sweetly waved in their direction and smiled even wider when she noticed a group of young teenaged girls proudly wearing matching tee shirts with the quote ‘ _Girls don’t like boys, girls like Commander Carey_ ’ written in bold black letters on the front of the white fabric. It was truly heartwarming, the fact that her Commander role, the one that put her on Hollywood’s map, was still being recognized and loved by so many people even after over five years since that movie got out, it made her love her fans even more.

When the cheers slowed down, she shook her hostess’s hand and then lowered herself on the couch assigned for the guest stars when Ellen invited her to sit down, a sign that her interview was about to begin. The older woman offered the brunette actress a pearly white smile as she exclaimed, “Good afternoon, Lexa, it is a real pleasure to have you with us here today!”

Lexa crossed her right leg over her left as she responded in kind, “Thank you for having me, the pleasure is all mine.”

For about twenty minutes, they talked about all sorts of things varying from her present and past roles to her debuts as an actress and a few comical anecdotes she had from her different sets and Lexa was genuinely having a great time being there, she thought Ellen Degeneres was one of the most authentic and funniest people she had met.

The kind hostess of _The Ellen Degeneres Show_ now offered the twenty-seven-year-old beauty to turn around in her seat and look at the large flat screen on the back which normally had a palm trees background, and so Lexa did despite being a little puzzled as to why she had been requested such a thing. When Ellen started to talk to her about New York though, the green-eyed beauty quickly caught up on what was happening and she was suddenly feeling quite anxious at learning of Sofia, she hoped everything went well for her baby sister back in Brooklyn.

“So, I’ve been told a certain someone couldn’t make it here to surprise you today because she’s currently in Brooklyn, New York City for an ice skating competition, is this correct, Lexa?”, Ellen innocently inquired and Lexa’s features instantly broke into a tender proud grin at the mention of the fifteen-year-old before she validated the other woman’s question.

“That is indeed correct, yes,” the brunette confirmed with a subtle nod of her head and waited for her to further continue on the subject.

“We know how close you two are and not being in New York with her now must be a bummer for you, but just because you can’t be physically there with Sofia doesn’t mean you can’t be with her virtually, right? So, with a little help from your cousin Anya and your sister herself, we made it possible for you to know all about Sofia’s first performance of the day, ” she announced just as said girl’s face appeared on the big screen and everyone started to clap their hands and make cheering noises and Lexa was indescribably happy to see her.

Sofia looked entirely radiant with joy and, judging by the all thousand megawatts smile plastered on her slightly red face, Lexa took that as a sign that her sister did well on her qualifications and her heart swelled with fierce pride and love for the younger girl. She watched Sofia greet Ellen and the crowd with a charming grin, which earned her another round of applause before her gaze landed on Lexa and when their eyes met and when she saw excitement vibrating in deep blue depths, Lexa _knew_.

“Hey, Jas!”, the young athlete delightfully exclaimed through the enormous screen.

“Hello, Love,” and the audience let out a collective ‘aw’ at the sweet pet name.

“Hum, hello I’m here, too,” Anya declared in her trademark ‘I’m not taking anyone’s bullshit’ dry tone as she suddenly appeared beside Sofia and made Lexa, alongside the entirety of the crowd and Ellen Degeneres herself, crack up with laughter because honestly, that was so much like her cousin to add her grain of salt like that, on live television nonetheless.

Lexa faked an annoyed eye roll at the tall blonde as she replied, “Hi to you too, An. You do know your face is plastered all over a giant screen on a famous live TV show, right? Behave yourself.”

Anya made a sweeping gesture with her hand as she offered her own unique roll of her eyes at her younger cousin while Sofia chuckled at the ever-present sisterly dynamic between Lexa and Anya, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, the little one has something to say to you, even though I’m pretty sure you can already guess what it’s about. Go on then, Sof, spill the tea so the entire country knows how much of a kickass you are,” Anya hyped the teenager up which resulted in the skater tilting her head down to hide the blush creeping its way up her high cheekbones.

Lexa had to cover a snort at her older cousin’s rather creative choice of words, “Really, Anya, _spill the tea_?”

“You would know if you, you know, actually used social media once in a while,” the older Woods immediately fired back, daring the brunette actress who gladly picked up on her friendly little challenge.

Lexa jutted her chin out and defiantly cocked her eyebrow, “Two can play this game, Anya Rose.”

“Jeez, would you two stop acting like such children, I was trying to announce something here,” Sofia shook her head exasperatedly and made Ellen cackle as she pointed at the young girl with her index finger, “I love this, what a riveting trio you guys make!”

“Thank you,” the cousins ironically answered at the same time and the show’s hostess clapped her hands in delight as more cheers came from the very much entertained public.

Ellen mimicked Lexa’s position in her seat and turned towards the screen once more to look at Sofia.

“Back to what really matters here, your cousin mentioned you being a ‘kickass’ and I don’t know about you guys but I really want to know why she called you that,” the blue-eyed woman addressed the audience who answered with whooping sounds before the girl in question flushed and somewhat shyly answered, Lexa, of course, thought that was adorable and she glanced at her sister with an adoring smile.

“I may or may not had the highest score in all general qualifications of the competition today,” Sofia humbly got out and Anya scoffed, “Meaning she _totally_ beat the crap out of every other skaters out there, that’s about right, yeah.”

Instantly, a thunder of applause and hurrahs erupted from every corner of the set while Lexa’s eyes widened and her sharp jaw slackened at the news and Anya had a smug and proud smirk on her face with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Wow, congratulations! I know I speak for everyone here, so please do tell us about everything, Sofia,” Ellen eagerly requested and so, said girl animatedly began to retell her entire experience as everybody listened to her attentively while Lexa still looked shook™.

“Well, first of all…”

@@@@

After Rey’s qualifications, Lincoln treated his niece and the rest of the gang to the nearest Dairy Queen, per the little girl’s request, in order to celebrate the fact that Rey did well enough that afternoon to earn herself a spot in the quarterfinals of Fire and Ice in her age category.

The ice cream shop was close enough from the competition’s installations for them to walk to and now they were on their way to sugary goodness, casually strolling down the streets of Brooklyn while easily chatting and maintaining their habitual banter. Lincoln and Octavia we’re walking at the front on the sidewalk as they low-key, but not really though, held hands; the raven-haired woman’s fingers loosely held on the man’s hanging, larger ones as Clarke, Raven and Rey were watching the two from the back as Raven gave Rey a piggyback ride, the young girl holding on the engineer with her arms wrapped around her neck while animatedly rambling about everything and anything in her childlike glee.

Raven had her phone in her free hand and continuously updated her snapchat story with new videos of their gang’s ‘adventurous’ trek to the Dairy Queen where she kept commenting things only Raven Reyes would say, Clarke was almost certain her followers would want to block the Latina for the ridiculous amount of snaps she repeatedly added to her story.

“And here we can see O and Linc acting like two awkward middle schooler fools who have their first crush and doesn’t know what to do about it because they’re too damn shy to even look at each other, what do you think, Little R?” Raven flipped the camera so that it was facing she and Rey.

“Too damn shy RaeRae!” The little girl slapped a hand on her forehead and shook her head exasperatedly so seriously it caused both Clarke and Raven to double over with laughter before the mechanic high fived their friend’s niece in complete delight.

“Man I love this kid so freaking much! You’re awesome, you know that, Munchkin?” Raven softly squeezed the younger girl’s calves.

Rey placed her palms on Raven’s cheeks, “Duh!”, she deadpanned like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Clarke was helpless to the rather loud snort that came out of her at the answer before she motioned at the six-year-old while pointedly looking at her genius friend.

“This is the result of your influence, Reyes.”

Raven smirked smugly and yelled, “Did you hear that, Lincoln?”

To the surprise of absolutely no one though, neither the tall man nor Octavia turned back at the dark-haired woman’s less than discreet query; they were lost in their own little bubble of their blooming romance to even notice they weren’t, in fact, alone.

Clarke half smiled when glancing at her sweet talking friends in the front and cocked her head, “I have to admit, they’re really cute together, they kind of make me miss being in a relationship.”

Raven made gagging sounds and rolled her eyes, “Ugh, feelings, so complicated. I hate those. Am I right, lil’ Rey?”

“Ice cream, baby!” Rey exclaimed and pointed at the Dairy Queen a few feet ahead of them.

Raven smirked and Clarke fondly shook her head from side to side.

“That’s what I thought.”

@@@@

Sofia and Wyatt had just got back from the atrium where they just performed their duet and, after a nice dinner with Anya and Wyatt’s mom, went to the girl’s hotel room, where they were currently hanging out as the blonde boy laid on his back on the bed right next to the window, which offered a splendid view of the city’s skyline at night, while repeatedly throwing and catching an old baseball. Meanwhile, Sofia sat on the window seat and observed the spectacle that was the city of New York when the sun had disappeared for the day and where the glowing luminescence came from the thousands of cars and lamp posts shining in the darkness of dusk.

Anya was talking on the phone for her work outside the room so it was just the two of them, and a thick silence had fallen over the two best friends who both looked like they were deep in thoughts.

They stayed like that for a good couple of minutes, pensive-eyed and fixed gaze, until Sofia broke their sort of trance by sighing heavily and rubbing her throbbing temples as she defeatedly declared to no one in particular while still having her ocean eyes fixed on the window, “I can’t believe I fell.”

Wyatt immediately sat up and said softly but firmly, “Hey, I’m the one who dropped you like a fucking beginner, if anyone is to blame here it’s me. I am so, so sorry, Brooks. Because of my idiotic incompetence, we didn’t even made the podium, this fucking sucks, _I_ fucking suck,” the frustrated blonde athlete passionately finished.

Sofia winced at the volume of his voice and put her head in her hands, “Yes, I get it, you are very displeased at the outcome of our duet, but could you please be angry at yourself a little quieter? My head is pounding and it’s _killing_ me,” she croaked out as she got up to go to the bathroom. When she took a look at him, he was yet again laid on his back but he now had his gaze fixed skyward and his head rested on his crossed arms at its back, a dumb TV show was playing in background but neither of them really paid attention to it.

“I’m gonna go grab a shower and take some advils, maybe it’ll help with this horrible headache, do you need anything from the bathroom before I lock myself in there for a solid half hour?” Sofia turned her head to her best friend but didn’t get any answer.

Sighing, she tried again, “Wy, did your hear me?”

When she still got nothing though, the girl shrugged and mumbled to herself, “whatever,” before she grabbed her pyjama and made her way to the bathroon.

As she was under the hot water jets in the luxurious shower, Sofia took her time to reflect on what had happened a few hours prior and she still couldn’t believe it; until the last seconds of their duet, she and Wyatt were executing their routine perfectly, just like in practice. Everything had been fluid and flawless until the last jump, which, ironically, they had spent hours and hours practicing until it was perfect. All that time going to waste because she fell like an amateur, even though she immediately got up and started skating again like nothing happened, Sofia knew the jury wouldn’t let that horrendous misstep slip up and she and Wyatt’s scoresheet would severely suffer from it. Maybe it _was_ a good thing Lexa wasn’t present that day, after all, Sofia would have been even _more_ embarrassed had her sister been there to witness her total fail.

Roman had tried his best to be supportive and act like it wasn’t that big of a deal but she knew it was a lie, could tell by the look in his eyes how disappointed he truly was, not disappointed in them though, disappointed because their coach knew how much time they put on that duet and that he knew what they were capable of. He was upset for his two best students and really wanted them to win.

They finished in fifth place.

She had nausea just thinking about it.

Sighing, Sofia turned off the water and got out of the shower before she wrapped a fluffy towel around herself and another one on top of her head to absorb the excess of water in her thick hair as she set to do her facial nighttime routine.

She began by lightly rubbing her face with a warm cloth and applied her skin cleanser before she took off the towels to replace them with her pajama and brushed her teeth while she waited for the product to work its way through her pores. When she was done, Sofia rinsed off her face with cold water to close her skin pores and rejoiced in the fresh feeling and nice smell the cleanser left on her.

Seeing as her headache persisted though, the girl looked through hers and Anya’s toilet kits for painkillers and cursed herself when she didn’t find any. Groaning as she got out of the bathroom, Sofia went to see Wyatt and ask if he’d see any somewhere.

“Hey Wy, would you happen to know if-” midway through her sentence though, Sofia was hit by a wave of dizziness violently crashing through her as her crane felt like it would explode in thousands of tiny shards and hissed in pain.

Wyatt seemed to wake up from his passive daze at the sound and quickly approached his best friend to steady her when she saw Sofia was having trouble standing upright by herself.

“Sof, are you alright?” The blonde boy had a concerned frown in his brows as her searched for her gaze though her blue eyes were dim and unfocused as she grabbed her head.

“My head…It’s pounding so hard…Hurts,” she said as she blinked more and more heavily until her eyes closed on their own volition and she went completely limp in Wyatt’s arms.

The boy froze in panic and he didn’t know what to do, his best friend had just lost conscience in his arms and he hadn’t had a clue what to do for the life of him.

When he finally came to his senses, he yelled out the first thing that came to his mind.

“Anya!”

The older woman barrelled through the door at the urgency in the young man’s tone and her browns widened the slightest when she saw her cousin unmoving in the blonde’s hold as she spoke in a firm voice, “What happened?”

Wyatt looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he scrambled a response, “She fainted, she was complaining her head throbbed painfully almost all night and I think she mentioned having slight nausea at some point.”

The Woods woman scoffed as she exclaimed, “And neither of you thought it would be a good idea to tell me?!”

“I’m sorry, I-” he began before Anya sharply interrupted him.

“I don’t want to hear it! Now pick her up with those long and muscular arms of yours and get her in the car, we’re going to the hospital, now.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woopsie daisies:$ Big shoutout to my loyal reader Reviewer+only who came up with the idea of #Charfia, which I wasn't sure of at first but now I am totally digging it. Brace yourselves for ch7 AKA what we've all been waiting for:))) Again, thank you all for your patience^^  
> Until next time, lovelies<3
> 
> https://m.lightinthebox.com/en/p/ice-skating-dress-women-s-girls-long-sleeve-skating-skirts-dresses-dresses-high-elasticity-figure-skating-dress-rhinestonespandex_p5981924.html?prm=1-2.3.5.0 This is the link for Sofia’s competition dress, if you’re interested


	6. Of headaches and 'oh shit' moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two worlds collide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!!!

_“Hey, Lex… Listen, something happened with Sofia and we had to take her to the hospital, I am so sorry I’m telling you this on the phone but I didn’t want you to panic, she’ll be fine, I think she probably has a concussion or something… Anyway, leave as soon as you can.”_

Lexa felt like she’d been struck in the gut by a jackhammer and all remaining air left her lungs, leaving them screaming and burning and aching, like she was being dragged by the ankle in the dark depths of an infinite sea and there was no other alternative for her than to drown, slowly and painfully.

No,

No,

 _No_.

This couldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t. Sofia was far too young to be in a hospital and just the thought of her, all shining smiles and brilliant blues, in such a place brought the actress an uncontrollable fear that viciously gripped her heart and tore up her insides. It sent her mind spiraling into ire, deafening thoughts and it could have been seconds or years until she felt steady on her own two feet again, standing alone and paralyzed in the middle of a dressing room at the Warner Brothers Studios, two thousand, seven hundred and ninety-seven miles away from where she should be more than ever in this instant but _wasn’t_.

When her brain finally woke up from its frozen state and Lexa was given back the control of her body, she picked her phone from her back pocket and tapped on the second number she had on her autodial list and waited for a few beats before the person at the other end of the line answered, skipping the useless pleasantries with urgency and weakly controlled panic when her manager’s composed voice came through.

“Indra! I need you to book me a seat in a plane, a jet, a spaceship, a rocket, whatever’s leaving sooner for New York, right the hell now, it’s my sister.”

When she heard the desperation in her protégée’s tone, Indra didn’t bother to ask questions and simply replied in the same serious voice as the worried brunette.

“I am on it, Alexandria, have no fear.”

Lexa looked up as she rapidly blinked to try to chase the tears that threatened to cloud her vision at the older woman’s words.

It was too late for that.

@@@@

After their little gang’s impromptu trip at the Dairy Queen, Clarke came back at BHC for her evening shift, meanwhile, Lincoln had the rest of the day off and he intended to enjoy a nice night with his niece at his apartment. It had been a demanding shift with barely any time for Clarke to catch her breath, it looked like every New York City resident had decided to hurt themselves at the same time, but fortunately for her, Clarke’s shift was over now and she could finally exhale.

The blonde was talking with Harper in their break room, the kind nurse she had met on her first day at the hospital, and who, quite coincidentally, Clarke learned appeared to know Raven as she showed the brown-eyed woman the engineer’s animated snapchat story from the afternoon.

“Hey, you’re friends with Raven Reyes, I know her,” Harper declared with a subtle grin at the corner of her lips when the girl in question faced the camera in the snap to talk about how lame her friends Octavia and Lincoln were being.

Clarke looked at her with wide, surprised blue eyes as her phone played the part where Rey slaps a hand on her forehead and shakes her head in Raven’s story, “Wait, you actually know her? Like, you’ve seen her before?” Clarke continued to slightly frown as if such possibility had never occurred to her while the nurse grinned in amusement at the blonde’s odd puzzlement and nodded to affirm Clarke’s inquiry.

Clarke swallowed a bite from her apple, “Where?” She thought about the night after her first day when she, Octavia and Raven went out for dinner and they asked her about her first impressions of BHC, Clarke was pretty sure she had told them about Harper, however, she didn’t recall Raven acknowledging her colleague. She thought it was a little weird, though knowing Raven knew a lot of people and basically met someone new every day, mostly because of her job, Clarke told herself maybe the Latina simply just didn’t pick up on it that time.

Harper wore a knowing smirk as she huskily replied, “Kickboxing lessons.”

Around them, two or three other colleagues of theirs, nurses and doctors alike, were minding their own business, either eating a quick snack between shifts or mindlessly scrolling through their phone until they had to go attend to their patients again. Clarke noticed a fellow intern wordlessly and discreetly entering the staff break room from over Harper’s shoulder, a relatively small young woman with pale skin and dark curly hair named Maya, and offered her a small friendly smile and nod in polite acknowledgment, which the quiet intern returned, before looking back at her new friend.

“I thought you were straight,” Clarke tilted her head to the side and her piercing blue depths took an amused glint at the woman before her.

Harper innocently shrugged while peeking a rapid glance at her watch to maintain a track on time just as some of the doctors present started to get out of the room, “I am, though it doesn’t mean I don’t know when to appreciate a beautiful, hot woman when I see one, I mean, Raven Reyes sweating in tight, short training clothes? This is some seriously jaw-dropping sight to witness.”

Clarke humorously mimicked venting at herself, “Yeah, tell me about it.”

The two women burst into laughter just as the loud sound of what was definitely a woman’s voice barking from the lobby brusquely put an end to their fun, the blondes frowning at each other before striding to where the commanding voicing came from to see what was the sudden commotion was about.

When they got there, Clarke was greeted with the sight of a tall, blonde teenager boy with a muscular frame which was supporting another young woman that was leaning heavily onto him, that one with a flowing brunette mane and deep blue eyes which looked entirely disoriented and glazed, like the girl had just woken up. Though, what caught most the blonde intern’s attention was the imposing presence of the older, tall blonde woman with similar features as the teenaged girl’s demanding to see a doctor in the absolute immediate right in the face of the poor secretary behind the desk, scrambling with the phone to join her superiors as she nervously told the somewhat, Clarke had to admit, terrifying woman to wait a second, which seemed like it was the worst answer the nervous redhead behind the desk could have given.

Everyone present in the room had their eyes fixed on the trio and Clarke, after a brief glance at Harper, decided to move forward the woman stranger and help her colleague at the desk at the same time her supervisor, Dr. Danvers, arrived in the lobby with hurried steps and a calm but firm voice.

“What is going on here?” The redhead surgeon looked at the edgy secretary, then to Anya and the two teenagers before her questioning gaze landed on her intern, who sported a clueless expression on her face.

Anya snapped her head towards Dr. Danvers and had a fierce bite to her tone as she gritted out, “My cousin clearly has a head injury and _passed out_ , although it seems it is not important enough to require immediate aid from any of your doctors! There is no way I will let her suffer like this for hours on end in a waiting room filled with noises that will do nothing but further increase the pounding in her head,” the older Woods protectively exclaimed as she extended her arm in the direction of her younger cousin, who was quite conveniently clutching her face in her hands, looking much pained.

The room fell silent as Anya worked hard to get a handle on her anger, heavily panting, which was a result of the growing pang of worry for her suffering cousin taking nest in her chest and threatening to expand and expand until all rational thoughts fled from her clouded mind. She looked back towards where Sofia leaned all her weight on her best friend, which looked equally as pissed as Anya, with his arm carefully slung over the injured skater’s shoulders though firmly enough for her to rest against him.

Alex Danvers made a brief sweep of the space and her brown eyes shut for a few seconds as a tired little sigh escaped her lips when she saw the ridiculously high number of people exhaustively waiting for their turn to see a doctor in the waiting room. The well-known neurosurgeon caught a glimpse of a young mother rubbing soothing circles on the back of who she presumed was her daughter, a little girl barely older than five with a jet black hair divided into two long French braids. The small child held tightly onto a worn-out blanket, and her face was too pale to be considered as normal and, with little beads of sweat coating her forehead, Alex mentally associated the symptoms to a fever. Across them was an elder couple, a tall man with silver hair side hugged his wife and softly kissed the top of her head as the much smaller woman’s body wracked with painful coughs. It was already so late in the evening and Alex knew for a fact that those people had been waiting in there for long hours and she felt for them all.

With her hands placed on her hips, Dr. Danvers turned her head back in the direction of the trio in front of her and took a good, studying look at the injured teenager in question. There was no doubt in the redhead’s mind that this girl was having a hard time and her eyes and voice softened as she got closer and addressed the brunette, “Hi sweetheart, can you tell me what happened to you? We can’t help you if we don’t know what caused you pain.”

Clarke watched and listened at the scene in front of her with rapt attention, she was in awe of her supervisor.

Sofia had to concentrate really hard to formulate a comprehensive sentence, so Alex gently stopped her to avoid pushing her brain too much and instead turned to the boy at her side while Anya hovered near her cousin like a protective mother hen.

“We were performing our duet for our competition here in Brooklyn and we failed a Throw Jump. I messed up the movement I needed to make and she ended up falling on her head on the ice,” Wyatt answered with remorse still evident in his tone just as Clarke’s eyes widened slightly in empathy and the neurosurgeon frowned inquisitively, “What happened then, didn’t she get any aid at all from the competition’s medical team?”

Wyatt searched for Anya’s gaze and the older woman fixed him with a pointed stare, conveying the boy to say the exact truth, which he did, but not without looking a fair bit flustered and hesitant.

“Well, um, we- she got up as soon as she hit the ice and we carried on ‘till the end.” The athletic boy nervously replied as his blue eyes shifted between Anya and his best friend but never did he look at the doctor in front of him as he explained the rest of their incident like he only just now realized how foolish that had been.

Alex remained neutral as she cocked a single eyebrow at that new revelation, “Did you at least consulted a professional for a quick checkup after your performance?” The neurosurgeon had a pretty good idea of what his answer would be, judging by how urgently they barreled in the hospital but still, she wanted to hear it from them.

It was the oldest of the three who replied this time, a bit hesitantly at that. “We didn’t think it was needed since Sofia kept telling us she was fine and felt nothing at all after the impact. Apparently, she started to complain about her head throbbing and feeling nauseous after dinner, I was not in our hotel room as I was having a phone conference for my work back in L.A. It was Wyatt who came to alert me when she passed out in his arms, I hadn’t had a clue she was feeling that way before he told me. But now that I think about it, maybe it would have been preferable to get her checked up by someone,” Anya finished as she rubbed her forehead with her fingertips while looking a little ashamed by her lack of judgment, Lexa would so have her head for that.

Clarke, who, until then, remained mostly silent, couldn’t refrain the light snort that came out of her nose and it was out before she thought better of it, “Preferable is quite the understatement.”

As soon as the words were out, Clarke instantly regretted them and her slip-up was rewarded by a scowl from the blonde stranger followed by a meaningful eyebrow lift from her boss which shut her up immediately afterward. Fortunately for her though, Dr. Danvers was a complete and utter professional and the redhead neurosurgeon calmly spoke up and saved Clarke’s face, “What Dr. Griffin means is head injuries are not to be taken seriously, concussions, which I’m almost certain your cousin has, can be really dangerous, and that’s why we’re going to put her in priority on our list, I’m afraid you’ll still have to wait a certain amount of time for all our on-duty doctors are already busy with other patients.”

Anya nodded before she turned around and saw how miserable Sofia looked, all tucked up in her best friend’s side, it hurt her to see her young cousin like that and she didn’t want Sofia to suffer any longer than she had to. Sighing resignedly because she knew it’d be a long night ahead of them, Anya thanked the doctor and began to lead Wyatt and Sofia to the waiting room.

Clarke felt bad for the teenaged girl retreating with a downcast look and slumped shoulders leaning far too much on the blonde boy next to her, she always hated to see people in pain and if she could do something, anything to help alleviate their torment, the blue-eyed student would do whatever it takes.

So that’s how she found herself blurting, “Wait, I’ll take her!”

The trio stopped moving just as Alex and Harper frowned curiously at Clarke, “Wasn’t your shift over, Clarke?” the nurse wondered, appearing fairly confused at her friend’s sudden eagerness.

Alex glanced at her watch on her left wrist, “It is, indeed.”

Anya backtracked and searched for the blonde with an expectant gaze under the others’ rapt attention, “You would do as such, even if, technically, you are not supposed to be here?”

Clarke’s colleague and boss watched with interest as the intern shrugged and offered a sweet smile to Anya, “Of course, I can see how awful this one feels,” Clarke motioned at Sofia with a slight jut of her chin. It was true though, Clarke could almost feel her own head throbbing by simply peeking a glimpse at the young girl with brunette curls and eyes that were a shade darker than hers, and for some reason it made her heart ache to reach out to the teenaged beauty and make all her pain go away.

Anya looked completely caught off guard, like she couldn’t believe someone would do something like that, at this time of the day, for a total stranger, she couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“You’re sure? I mean, I don’t want to impose, we can wait like everyone else,” the Woods woman gesture vaguely at the people in the waiting room with her arm.

Clarke flicked her thumb towards her supervisor, “You heard Dr. Danvers, concussions are not to be messed with, and besides, I want to.” She flashed the taller woman another reassuring smile which reached her eyes and Anya’s doubts disappeared at the sheer honesty she saw reflecting in them. She breathed a little easier.

After a final glance at her cousin and Wyatt, Anya finally relented as the shadow of a smile graced her lips and Clarke couldn’t help but observe how pretty the other woman looked when her unique features were relaxed as she stretched out her arm to shake Anya’s hand, “I’m Dr. Clarke Griffin, well, not yet a real official doctor but that’s how they’ve been calling me these days!”

Anya cracked a tiny raspy laugh before meeting the blonde hand for a handshake, “I’m Anya Woods and this is Sofia, my cousin, and her best friend and ice skating partner, Wyatt. I can’t thank you enough for this, doctor.” Sofia mimicked her older cousin as she gave Clarke a small, genuine little grin in return while Wyatt opted to gratefully tilt his head forward as well.

Clarke looked at the three of them with a kind smile and made a swift sweeping motion with her hand to indicate it was nothing, “Don’t worry about it, I only want to help. Now, follow me, we’ll start with a scan to see what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours, Sofia.”

As she passed next to her boss, Clarke mouthed a quick ‘I’ve got this’ to the redhead to which Alex proudly replied, “Selfless _and_ genuine, you really are on your way to make yourself a spot in here, Doctor.”

@@@@

About an hour after they went to do a CT scan of Sofia’s brain, Clarke made Harper prepare a bed for the figure skater while she gathered the results and wrote them down on Sofia’s medical form as Anya and Wyatt waited for the diagnosis on tiny uncomfortable plastic chairs near the fifteen-year-old’s hospital bed.

On her side, Sofia was beginning to feel a little better because of the ibuprofen her nurse, Harper, had given her to help diminish her headache.

While her doctor finished scribbling some notes in the younger girl’s personal file, Clarke asked her a series of random questions to evaluate her cognitive function. They had transferred her into a private room, thanks to Anya’s insistence and willingness to pay extra money for Sofia’s peace of mind and to ensure her cousins more privacy, considering the fact that Lexa would be there in a couple of hours at most and the blonde Woods knew her cousin actress wouldn’t be in the right state of mind to bother with prying eyes and curious whispers.

So, that was in the quiet comfort of a secluded space with four walls and Anya and Wyatt as only other presence that Clarke subtly began her short interrogation,

“I see you are part of the Fire and Ice figure skating competition here in Brooklyn, yes?”

Sofia fiddled with her thumbs, looking fairly sulky as she croaked out a bitter, “I was until I fell on my stupid head because I suck.”

At that, Wyatt looked like he was about to protest his best friend’s self-deprecating choice of words though Anya’s firm grip on his forearm prevent the tall blonde teenager to move out of his seat before he shut his mouth and slightly clenched his jaw as Clarke continued to do her job with Sofia, “I’m sure that’s not what happened. Hey, ‘wanna know something funny, I was there with my friends this afternoon for my best friend’s six-year-old niece, what group of age are you competing in?” Clarke sounded so casual Sofia had no idea what she was really doing, Anya was positively surprised.

The injured girl looked confused for a short few seconds, like she had to concentrate to remember the answer and her blue eyes briefly landed on Anya, who nodded back with reassurance, before once again locking on her doctor’s as she uncertainly replied, “The fifteen-year-olds?”

Not wanting to give herself away to her patient, Clarke didn’t approve or denied as she simply hummed while Anya and Wyatt shared an uneasy look at the brunette’s hesitancy and scribbled some more on her notepad, “Thank you for reminding me, can you tell me who are the two people sitting on the two chairs again? I can’t recall their names,” Clarke innocently asked.

Sofia lazily smiled as she once again moved her head in her cousin and best friend’s direction while pointing at them with her index finger, “Sure, doctor Clarke, I’ll help you, this is Anya my older cousin and the tall dude there is Wyatt, my best friend,” the girl announced proudly.

Anya smirked before she nodded and Wyatt made a small wave with his hand as they once again introduced themselves to the blonde doctor, who smiled back at them before she turned to her young patient for another question, “Nice, thank you, hun. Did you come to the competition with them?”

Sofia’s eyes shifted downwards, “Our club traveled together, yes, but Anya actually accompanied me since Lex couldn’t make it today, she’ll be there tomorrow, though.”

Clarke frowned, who was ‘Lex’?

The blonde cleared her throat and inquisitively tilted her head to the side, “Lex?”

Anya waited apprehensively for her cousin’s answer, hoping Dr. Griffin wouldn’t make the connections and wasn’t a secretly obsessed fangirl, she inhaled sharply and braced herself.

“Lexa, my sister, she had to stay in L.A, where we live, for work, it sucks,” Sofia groggily expressed as she yawned and shifted in a more comfortable position in her bed.

Clarke smiled a sad little smile in empathy at the girl’s obvious disappointment, she knew first hand how it felt to have a parent with a demanding work schedule, her mom spent so much time at the hospital, now that she got to experience the life of a doctor though, Clarke completely understood why. She still found herself missing her mother at times, of course, but she knew Abby never had the intention to hurt her, Clarke had learned over the years. It was a reality she had to live with, and that just made every rare moment she shared with her mom more special. So yeah, she could understand why Sofia seemed upset.

“Aw, I know how you feel, believe me. You look tired, can you please help me out with one more thing before I let you rest for the night?” Clarke gently asked as Sofia rubbed her eyes with her fist which made her look incredibly endearing and young.

“ _’Yeahsure_ ,” the figure skater blinked heavily and Anya tensed at what the question could be.

Clarke chuckled at her patient adorable medication-induced sleepiness, “Can you tell me your full name? I promise I’m done after that.”

“Sofia Brooklyn Woods,” the girl thoughtlessly murmured between two yawns and something inside Clarke seemed to click as she remembered the name the fifteen-year-old had pronounced with so much evident attachment to.

“ _Lexa, my sister_.”

Anya _Woods_.

Sofia Brooklyn _Woods_.

_Wait, what?_

@@@@

It was barely five am in New York City when Lexa burst through the automatic doors of the Brooklyn Hospital Center, pulse thundering and heart in her throat as she made a beeline straight to the front desk in the otherwise tranquil, vast lobby of the clinic where her injured little baby sister was hopefully being treated in. The actress was so filled with worry for the teenager she didn’t even notice the few people in the waiting room regarding her with eyes that were either shocked at seeing a celebrity in a hospital of all place so early in the day or, frankly, more than a little bit judgy as they saw her stride like a madwoman to where a poor innocent secretary was about to experience the absolute hurricane that was a distraught Lexa Woods in what one would claim was protective mode, forest eyes narrowed and locked in a single and very precise lane in front of her, tensed and on extremely high alert.

With urging determination and purpose, the anxious twenty-seven-year-old dropped her denim travel bag to the ground and authoritatively flattened her palms on the pristine surface of the reception desk as she pinned the pale man behind it with a hard stare, making his hazel eyes widened and gasp in surprise while Lexa blindly reached out for her wallet in her black leather jacket’s pocket and pulled out her ID card before forcefully shoving it in the bewildered guy’s face as she commanded, “I need to see Sofia Brooklyn Woods immediately, I am her sister and I want access to her room right the hell now.”

The light-haired receptionist could only stutter a weak answer as Lexa’s imperious voice gathered the attention of each and every soul in the room, “I-I’m-um..what? I mean-what? This is not h-how it w-works, there’s a pro-procedure that needs to be followed before we allow visitors to our patients’ rooms, Ms-uh..Ms. Woods,” the startled man, Xavier, Lexa read on his name tag, stammered out without any semblance of composure as his eyes struggled to focus on the increasingly short-tempered woman towering over his desk. He nervously cleared his throat and scratched the nape of his neck while looking around like a helpless duck as his gaze desperately wandered in the hopes of finding a brave soul to help him out but it seemed like he had no such luck for he was still stuck alone with the impatient lady.

Lexa clenched her jaw in order to keep a relatively moderate tone of voice and remain polite but the knot in her throat kept winning in volume meanwhile her ribcage felt like it would squeeze her heart until it shattered in millions of tiny pieces and every damn fiber of her being craved to see Sofia before Lexa turned insane, “I am her legal guardian, I do not care for your procedure, I just want to see my sister and I swear to God if you don’t let me through I will go up there myself.”

“Jesus, Lex, could you be any more dramatic?” Lexa’s head snapped to where her cousin’s voice came from, a fuming coffee in one hand and a blueberry muffin in the other while she observed the younger woman with an equal mix of exasperation and relief in her exhausted eyes.

Upon seeing Anya, Lexa all but forgot about Xavier the receptionist and practically flew to her older cousin’s side, heart rate picking up once more with anticipation at learning of Sofia’s condition. Lexa folded her arms behind her back in a semblance of poise as she leaned her head towards the other woman in front of her and all but hissed, “What exactly happened to my sister, Anya, is she even okay?”

Lexa looked as though she was about to pop a nerve and Anya’s eyes grew the least bit soft at the corner as she clapped a reassuring hand on her incredibly stressed out cousin and nodded once as Xavier warily looked at Lexa like she’d somehow turned around and snap his neck at any time, “She had an incident while performing her duet with Wyatt and she fell on her head, her doctor wanted to wait for you before she gave the diagnosis but she strongly hinted at a concussion. Sofia is doing just fine considering the circumstances, she’s been on pain meds since last night to help with her headaches and she is better,” Anya calmly explained before she took a sip of her coffee, giving time for Lexa to proceed the news and settle her nerves as the actress rubbed her forehead with her hand, looking a little less tensed and more apt to have a real conversation. Anya was glad to see her cousin was slowly getting back to herself.

“I see… Can you lead me to her?” Lexa asked, eager.

Anya looked back at the man with eyes still fixed on her cousin as she smirked, “I sure can. Follow me, then, it’s this way,” the blonde shifted on her heels and began the walk back to Sofia’s hospital room, Lexa close behind her.

Clarke knocked three times on the opened door of the room 206 and was greeted with the soft sight of Sofia Woods grinning at her doctor with small bags under her rich blues, looking genuinely happy to see the blonde even though it was clear she hadn’t had enough sleep last night. The blinds covering the small hospital room’s windows were still shut but the golden rays of the dawn’s glow filtered through them and illuminated the space in bright orange-ish hues as Clarke crossed the threshold and smiled back warmly at her young patient, “Good morning, Sofia!”

The girl sat up more properly in her bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, “ ‘Morning, doctor Clarke. Do you know where Anya and Wyatt are?” the brunette asked as her eyes wandered around the room in the hope to find her cousin and best friend but to no avail.

“Harper told me his mother came to pick him up a short while after you fell asleep last night and I think your cousin might have gone off to fetch herself a coffee,” Clarke clarified as she picked out Sofia’s form from its file and pulled out a pen from the breast pocket of her lab coat and pressed on its tip to open it just as she asked, “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? It’s just for a routine check-up to see if your head’s still alright.”

Sofia nodded and motioned with her arm, “Do your thing, doctor Griff! Wait, is it alright if I call you that?” the younger girl furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side like a curious puppy which endeared Clarke greatly.

The blonde grinned as she threw her patient a little wink, “Only if I get to call you Sof.”

Sofia smirked right as she took her hair tie off her wrist before she gathered her thick mass of dark hair at the top of her head in a sloppy messy bun, “You’re pretty cool, doctor Griff.”

Clarke chuckled wholeheartedly as she smiled back at the skater, “Why thank you, but I think you’re cooler, though.”

Sofia cockily smirked, “I am.”

@@@@

When Anya stopped them in front of room 206, Lexa had to physically force herself from straight out running to her sister’s side and make a fool of herself. Instead, she inhaled deeply and slowly crossed the threshold as her older cousin gestured at her to go first and the sight that greeted her as she zoomed in on Sofia completely melted her anxious heart and she instantly felt all her stress vanished into thin air when her little sister turned her head in her direction and caught her forest gaze. Royal blues lit up excitedly and a huge, happy smile broke into Sofia’s beautiful face when she saw Lexa’s immaculate form through the door frame.

“Jas!” She exclaimed joyfully before she opened her arms and motioned at the older girl to come and hug her with a quick flick of her wrists, which Lexa wasted no time to do as a radiant smile overtook her delicate features.

In two long strides, Lexa was at her sister’s side and tightly held her in her arms, breathlessly whispering a relieved “Thank God you’re okay”, in the athlete’s ear. Anya’s dark eyes were soft as she looked at her cousins reunite while she leaned on the door frame with her arm crossed over her chest.

Clarke quietly observed the adorable scene unfold before her at the foot of Sofia’s bed and laughed an unreserved laugh when the younger brunette made a joke to the woman still firmly holding on to her.

And then the most breathtaking pair of earthy green eyes landed on her.

Clarke froze.

So _this_ was Lexa.

Sofia had just finished snarking a sassy comment, Lexa couldn’t even remember what it was about, when she heard what was without the shadow of a doubt the loveliest melody of a laugh resonating in her ears from a little farther in the room. The sound was unlike anything she had ever heard; it held a rich warmth that had Lexa’s insides burning up and a delicious lightness wrapping around her heart in the most soothing and tender hold Lexa thought she had ever felt. It was like the welcome heat of the sun hitting your face on a chilly autumn afternoon back home in Canada. It was the feeling of being surrounded by water, weightless, free. It was refreshing and pure and the only thing she wanted to hear again and again for the rest of her life.

Lexa’s gaze broke from where it rested on her little sister, her verdant eyes seeking the source of the wonderful song that was this feminine laughter she knew certainly wasn’t Anya’s like it was the first and only instinct she had and what they founded made her thank the heavens she wasn’t standing on her own two feet because Lexa knew her wobbling knees would have crumbled under the weight of her quivering core as her greens locked on the most beauteous woman she had ever seen in her modest twenty-seven winters of age.

Suddenly, just like that, sitting weakly on a lone hospital bed, all she could see, all she could comprehend, was how the morning light reflected in the most reverent way on hair as luminescent and bright as planet Earth’s oldest burning star, casting shadows across a face that had imprinted itself in the depths of her memory as quickly as her heart rate had leapt up upon seeing _her_.

She thought it was fitting, how this woman’s very soul seemed to radiate like the Sun, seeing as Lexa felt an indescribable, magnetic attraction pulling her to this girl in the most powerful and inevitable way possible.

Lexa couldn’t move, wouldn’t dare to try standing up and go to her, never mind talking to her, fearing her treacherous little heart would somehow implode at something so mundane as a simple ‘hello’. So she sat there, immobile and entranced, waiting for a miracle she knew would never happen because there was no such thing as miracles.

And yet, when the blonde goddess cleared her throat and cracked a simple, raspy “Hi, I’m Clarke,” Lexa couldn’t help but question everything she had ever known.

“I’m Lexa,” she pathetically choked back and she didn’t need to see to feel the conspirational smirks both Anya and Sofia openly threw at her.

It was at that moment Lexa knew she was wholly, unquestionably, irrevocably, royally _fucked_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND IT BEGINS MY FRIENDS. 
> 
> Now, get ready for all the Clexa feeeellzzz<33


	7. Of connections and unexpected encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clexa are very gay for each other, Sofia has some surprises and Raven is shook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 7 for you all, my lovelies!

Dr. Clarke Griffin is a dream, something perfect and unreachable her own mind had created.

Of that, Lexa was sure.

No one should be this kind, this genuine, this _devastatingly_ beautiful not to be, the actress came to that simple conclusion as she found herself completely hooked to every damn word that got out of her sister’s doctor’s mouth as the blonde beauty pulled her outside of the room to inform her of Sofia’s condition after she finally, properly introduced herself as Dr. Griffin to the mesmerized brunette.

With a straightforward but considerate explication, Sofia’s doctor had told Lexa her little sister had a moderate concussion, hence why the fifteen-year-old had passed out for a few minutes the previous night as it happens to some people when faced by that level of concussion. She succeeded far too easily to reassure Lexa when the latter had voiced her concerns about the younger girl’s injury and the ramifications it could take with graceful patience and delicate truth; Sofia was out of the competition and forbidden to practice any brain-stimulating activities for a minimum of three to five days, physical activities were a granted interdiction for at least two weeks, as well.

Telling Sofia she wouldn’t be able to put her skates on for that long and possibly even longer wouldn’t be an easy task, Lexa had strongly suspected. Yet, when Dr. Griffin gently explained her but without sugar coating anything, to Lexa’s honest surprise, Sofia had been bitter about having to put an early end to her competition, that was a given, yes, though she accepted it with far more poise and maturity that Lexa would have expected her competitive-natured sister to, and genuinely thanked her doctor before the blonde smiled a ridiculously charming smile and left the Woods alone to process everything that had been said.

What Lexa hadn’t expected at all though, was the surprisingly long exchange she had with Clarke Griffin when the actress had gone to the hospital’s cafeteria to bring some food to her sister just as the sweet doctor was walking out of it with a cup of coffee in her hands, the two making eye contact as if sensing the other’s presence and gravitating towards one another instantly, like it was purely normal for them to do.

It was Clarke who initiated the conversation because Lexa would never in a million years have found the courage to say something first, there was just something about the blue-eyed blonde that seemed to make her brain forget all the words she had ever known.

“Ah, miss Lexa Woods, fancy seeing you here, or should I say Commander,” Clarke began with a twinkling in her eyes and the shadow of a smirk on her beautiful lips that had Lexa’s heart doing all sorts of things to her and the shy actress could feel the tip of her ears, as well as her high cheekbones, begin to grow warm and flushed.

Clarke had to suppress ‘awing’ at the blushing expression her comment had left on the other girl’s otherworldly features.

It was so cute and oddly charming and it tugged at Clarke’s heartstrings in the most delicious way.

“You know who I am?” Lexa murmured timidly as she blushed even more while biting her bottom lip to refrain from a schoolgirl smile, this was so lame. People called her the Commander, for hell’s sake.

Dr. Griffin scrunched up her nose playfully and it made her wonderful cerulean depths crinkle as she undid her bun only to redo it on the top of her head, and really, something as simple as that shouldn’t make Lexa want to cup the other girl’s pale cheeks between her hands and shower her in tender kisses all over her oh so appealing face until the Sun’s light burned off.

_Alexandria, what the hell!_

Lexa subtly cleared her throat as Clarke somewhat sheepishly continued, “More or less; My friends are huge TV nerds though, I’m pretty sure they were offended when I told them I didn’t know who Alicia Clark was! Really though, I’m not big with television, I prefer to spend my free time either drawing or painting.”

Curious as it was, Lexa loved the fact that the immaculate doctor wasn’t a fan of hers and didn’t really know who she was. She would even go as far as saying she felt relieved, for whatever reason.

Another thought that randomly popped into her head was how gorgeous the blonde must looked with a concentrated little scowl and colorful splotches of paint on her fingertips as she expertly brushed a series of lines and shapes all over a large canvas; a flaxen pile of hair stacked on the top of her head and an old oversized shirt sliding down one of her shoulders, revealing a glimpse of soft creamy skin begging to be kissed. Lexa’s heart somersaulted and her pulse started to thrum when she imagined _her_ loose shirt on Clarke’s frame and _her_ lips placing a trail of reverent kisses down the girl’s shoulder as she encircled her waist with her arms-

What was wrong with her?

Willing her disturbing and inappropriate thoughts away with the slightest twitch of her head, Lexa snapped her gaze back on the woman before her and focused really hard to muster some words to answer the waiting doctor. The task proved to be significantly harder than she would have preferred for she was caught breathless in eyes so perfectly blue, like a clear water deep.

“I love reading when I have time for myself, which is remarkably rare,” Lexa found herself confessing, shocked at how easily she revealed that part of herself to a complete stranger.

Clarke’s shoulders shook knowingly and the sound alone was a lullaby to Lexa’s soul, “I can totally relate to that, when I’m not here working I have my nose stuffed in my biology books either locked down in my room or in the nearest coffee shop. What kind of books do you read?” Clarke advanced with genuine interest as she took a careful sip of her coffee. A few passersby turned their heads upon seeing Lexa but other than that she and Clarke were in their own little bubble, undisturbed and captivated by each other.

Lexa’s previous shyness steadily dissipated as they fell into familiar territory to actress embodying Alicia Clark, “Everything, really, I can go from thrillers to sci-fi, from psychological to fantasy and even poetry. I just really enjoy a good book, you know? Plus, I think it’s important to vary your type of reading because it allows you to further open your mind and brings you to see things from different angles and point of views, does that make sense?” Lexa shifted her weight on her right leg as her left one curled around her right ankle, her hands buried in her jacket pockets and her eyebrows quirked inquisitively while she looked at the doctor.

Clarke felt herself becoming soft at the obvious passion the brunette nurtured in her meticulous greens as the actress went on about her love for literature. The intern wholeheartedly agreed with everything that got out of those luscious plump lips and decided she was impossibly attracted to that flame of viridian intensity digging so powerfully into her graphite blue eyes she almost blushed.

“I think it makes perfect sense, I have learned so much about life and about myself through novels. They’re like this safe place I turn into when I want to escape my reality, for a little while. What’s your favorite?” Clarke prompted, eyes raking between Lexa’s amicably.

That was a no-brainer for the actress. “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” Lexa confirmed, her voice a longing confession to Clarke’s attentive ears.

The doctor’s blonde brows knitted as a fleeting sadness suddenly clouded her gaze, paralleling a rainy sky; Thick, heavy dusty clouds threatening to pour melancholic showers over the ones who had had the misfortune of passing under their menacing dark allure. “It’s so tragic, though. And rash, when you think of how fast they both were to end their own life. I mean, they knew each other for four days! I can’t possibly imagine killing myself for someone I knew for this short a time,” Clarke tsked.

Lexa pulled her lips into a soft half-smile which made her contemplate the baffled gorgeous of a woman before her with a tenderness illuminating her lucid grassy greens, successful at taking Clarke’s breath away as Clarke could feel her words getting so painfully stuck in her throat for a short few seconds.

“They were in love,” Lexa sounded wistful.

“You mean they were infatuated and foolish.”

“You are very stubborn.”

“Thank you.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment, Clarke with a bit of a friendly challenge mirroring in the deep expanse of her electric eyes and Lexa with a bemused smirk, like she couldn’t quite decipher how she should react until Clarke dropped the act and cracked a throaty laugh that made the brunette feel like her heart was a volcano and her blood was boiling lava flowing through her veins.

This uncharacteristic response from her body at anything the blonde doctor did was getting out of hands.

“Do you not like the idea of having a love so powerful for someone, one you couldn’t bear to live without, that you would gladly take your own life away if it meant you could be together in another one?” Lexa counter-offered once they laughter subsided.

Clarke seemed to ponder for a short while, the corner of her malleable lips pulled down in her reflection and Lexa was left to wonder how the hell it was possible for the doctor to glow this magnificently even under the harsh luminescence of the hospital’s neon lights.

She still couldn’t figure it out.

“I think it’s irrational, what about the others that would be left behind?” Clarke finally rebutted, though without any trace of bite in her tone.

Lexa cocked her head, her voice like a stolen murmur in the darkness of the ascending night,

“Love was never meant to be rational.”

Clarke didn’t know why, but it felt like that simple sentence held an entire universe of meaning and she became suddenly very aware of the way her heart thumped way too fast in her chest, praying the ethereal actress couldn’t hear how loud it was beating and begging for a distraction to break the unexpected tension between them.

This strange instant connection she had with the flawless brunette certainly came as a shock for Clarke. Talking so comfortably with someone she had met barely seven hours prior, a very popular public figure at that, about something so incredibly personal as their types of reading and then their very own interpretation on love itself- it was utterly baffling.

In other words, Clarke was deeply unsettled.

What was even more disturbing though, was how easily and effortlessly she seemingly let herself get trapped by the spell of the regal arch of deliciously high cheekbones and unspoken tails carefully locked away in reflections of leafy greens, enticing her like nothing else before.

The aforementioned woman stood still before her, eyes timid and expectant and so very _green_ , rivaling even the most valued shred of Jadeite and Clarke agreed on two things, the first one being that she desperately needed to divert the topic or else she’d say something impressively dumb.

The other one would be that, here, in the middle of the cafeteria’s hallway, Clarke Griffin decided that Lexa Woods was the most beautiful human being that had ever walked on all glorious planet Earth.

Fortunately for Clarke, or unfortunately, depending on how you view it, the distraction she so ardently wished upon a mere short instant before arrived in the form of yet another unfairly attractive person, as Anya Woods appeared next to her younger cousin and wearily grinned at the blonde doctor with a small tilt of her head before she turned to Lexa and said that she’d go get some rest at the hotel.

With a grasp of their forearms Clarke thought looked cutely old-fashioned and a final smirk to Clarke, Anya saw herself out, leaving Clarke and Lexa alone once more.

“I should go see my patients.”

“I need to buy food for my sister.”

The two women blurted at the same time and chuckled with blushing cheeks before parting ways with a shy goodbye, heading to their destination with foolish smiles and infatuated hearts.

@@@@

Sofia was alone in her room while her sister went to buy her some snacks, bored out of her mind since Anya left to go sleep at their hotel, leaving the girl having absolutely nothing to do of her time because of her concussion- she couldn’t use her phone, she couldn’t watch tv, hell she couldn’t even _read_.

Her doctor Clarke wasn’t so cool after all.

Okay, that was a lie- her doctor Griff remained the coolest ever.

But still, the situation she found herself in sucked big time. Her competition was ruined because of some dumb move and even worse, she was formally forbidden to go on the ice for at least fourteen days, doctor’s order.

Stupid concussion.

Of course, her paranoid sister had taken away her phone upon hearing what doctor Clarke had said about brain stimulation being also forbidden for a minimum of three days and now Sofia couldn’t even try to sneak and take a look at her notifications for even two minutes.

The only thing she could do was entertaining herself with her own thoughts.

Fantastic.

And then she remembered her sister’s face when she saw her doctor for the first time.

Lexa, the gayest gay planet Earth had to offer, as Sofia had once called her, had looked at Clarke with her jaw slacked and the biggest heart eyes Sofia had ever seen on someone it was hilarious. And judging by the big ass smirk Anya had shared with her, the teenager wasn’t the only one who noticed the serious puppy eyes her sister dearest had for her doctor Griff, who, by the way, totally had returned the same exact look to Lexa, to Sofia’s extreme delight.

She and Anya would have so much fun.

She was pulled out of her conspiratorial thoughts when the faint sound of a hesitant, barely there knock resonated in her room and Sofia barely had time to turn to the visitor before her eyebrows rose to her hairline, completely shocked to see who was awkwardly standing in the doorframe.

Though, particularly because of just who was before her, Sofia made quick work to school her expressions and coolly breathed out, “What are you doing here, Charlotte?”

Here, incredulous as it was, stood Charlotte Vidovic, of all people, her sworn enemy, no doubt to gloat about her flawless performance, as always. Sofia had to clench her jaw in order to keep her cool, the audacity this girl had, to come here, in her hospital room and to what, brag about how superior of a skater she was?

Charlotte had that _stupid_ crinkle between her eyebrows she had when something was troubling her and the concussed girl wanted to scream when the other skater started to trample on the floor with unease, “Well, I um- I came to check on you, actually.”

Sofia looked up, skeptical and annoyed.

_Yeah right._

“How did you even know I was here?” The brunette sat in a defensive stance with narrowed eyes, pinning Charlotte down with a hard stare of her cold blues, reminiscent of a fierce blizzard swallowing everything in its path, leaving nothing but the harsh bite of ice and snow behind.

The other brunette wore a pair of grey Jordan Jumpman sweatpants and a plain white tee shirt, her feet covered by a set of black and white Adidas side sandals and her head adorned a mustard yellow beanie over her shower wavy hair. To top it all, the girl had put on her huge ass golden, round Ray-Bans eyeglasses. Charlotte’s overall look was so far off her usual uptight style Sofia didn’t know what to do with herself.

(She would never admit how insanely attractive Charlotte Vidovic looked at that moment.)

“I was watching you when you fell on the ice and got a little worried, so I texted Wyatt and he told me what happened and where to find you,” Charlotte explained as she tried her best to avoid meeting Sofia’s piercing gaze.

She had been betrayed by her own best friend.

Also, what was up with her cheeks getting suddenly so warm?

Probably because she was so _angry_ , she couldn’t believe Wyatt had dared to give her whereabouts to her worst enemy, the level of betrayal that was.

Her urge to scoff was uncontrollable as an exaggerated puff of air slipped out from Sofia’s throat, “Yeah, as if _you_ , princess Charlotte Vidovic, would get worried about anything unrelated to yourself. I don’t buy any of it, you just came here to make sure I was out of the competition because let’s face it, Sofia growled, I am a better skater than you are and your only chance to win this thing is if I don’t partake in it.” At that point, Sofia had gotten out of bed and positioned herself threateningly in the face of her rival, Charlotte laughably towering over her and bearing a face that indicated clearly how done she was with Sofia’s little show of dominance, every trace of nervousness in her face now gone.

Charlotte took a step closer and positively forced Sofia to backtrack until she felt her lower back press the mellow edge of the mattress, her hands grasping the covers to steady herself as the girl with glasses hissed, “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, Sofia Brooklyn, but if you think you can lash out and bitch on me like you just did for absolutely no fucking reason, then you are sorely mistaken. Contrary to what you believe, I came here to visit you because I genuinely worry and care about you, not because of some bullshit vendetta you made up to make it look like I hate you. Now _you_ oppositely, you need to fucking get down off your high horse and start treating me with respect, even if you do hate me, because I have never done anything wrong to you and I will not tolerate a stunt like that again.”

When the girl with mahogany brown eyes finished, both she and Sofia were heaving and the tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a kitchen knife, the room deadly silent save for their labored breaths. Charlotte was glaring at her with her jaw painfully clenched, the motion dramatically accentuating its already defined line and her hands were shoved in her sweats pockets and Sofia was livid.

The youngest Woods girl gritted her teeth and lowly snarled, fury dripping from her voice, “ _Get_. _Out_.”

Charlotte brusquely pulled her right arm off her burgundy backpack’s strap and harshly tugged on its zip before she blindly fished out what looked like a teddy bear and tossed it in Sofia’s hands, something hard but vulnerable flashing in her cocoa-colored depths as she slowly started to retreat backward.

“I bought you this, you can do whatever the hell you want with it, I don’t care.”

Without another word, Charlotte Vidovic left as noiselessly as she came, leaving Sofia alone with her tormented thoughts and a pastel pink, her favorite color, teddy bear with the words ‘Get well soon’ embroidered in the same shade on his white belly.

Sofia’s hands were trembling as she glanced at the door frame, her gift firmly held in her grasp.

What in the absolute hell had just happen?

@@@@

It was well past noon, the sun beginning its progressive descent in the sky, the clouds resembling fluffy cotton candies as the early evening glow painted them in warm shades of pink and orange, when a cheerful Dr. Clarke Griffin came back to Sofia’s room bearing the great news that the teenager had gotten herself her hospital leave. While Lexa went for a professional handshake as her way to express her gratitude towards the doctor, which pathetically failed as soon as the velvety expanse of the skin of the pure beauty that was Clarke Griffin made contact with hers, the simple touch making the actress feel like she had been struck by lightning, Sofia threw her reservations out the window and squealed in delight as she all but leapt out of her bed and tightly embraced her favorite doctor.

The minute Clarke responded to her sister’s hug, Lexa was, albeit not proud at all, envious of her younger sibling’s situation- dying to be the one holding the kind intern between her arms, needing to know how the blonde would feel with her body pressed flush against hers, what she smelled like as Lexa would pull her close to her heart and let the blue-eyed marvel’s sweet perfume invade all her senses…

Lexa scolded herself, she desperately needed to get Clarke Griffin out of her head.

But _oh_ , how impossible a task that was.

She watched as the two let go of each other with beaming smiles before she dipped her head once more in recognition to the woman that had her heart doing acrobatics inside her ribcage, “Thank you again for everything you’ve done for my sister, Dr. Griffin.” Lexa expressed as she found the sea blue gaze of said doctor, asking herself not for the first time since she’d met her how one’s eyes could be so beautiful.

Clarke wanted to cocoon herself in the entirely too soft lilt of the brunette’s voice, feeling a new type of warmth wash all over her body with a lone glance at the gorgeous actress before her.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Clarke gently replied as she moved her gaze to Sofia, affection lacing her tone as she took in the sight of the younger girl, tired bags under her expressive admiral eyes though shining with youthful energy and excitement, “I had a wonderful patient.”

Sofia absolutely radiated at the praise and Lexa would be lying if she said watching her sister and Clarke Griffin interact so fondly with one another didn’t completely melted her heart.

As Clarke went to bid the two sisters goodbye, it suddenly hit her that Sofia had mentioned they lived in L.A and she deflated at the very real possibility that she would likely never get to see either of them again.

She would never hear the lively laughter of Sofia as she cracked up at her own joke, again.

She wouldn’t have the chance to engage in a passionate conversation about books with Lexa, wouldn’t get to witness the confident actress becoming all shy and blushing when teased by Clarke, just one more time.

But most of all, Clarke knew she would never again experience the intense thrill she felt when locking eyes with Lexa Woods, deep in her bones.

The thought scared her way more than it should have.

Though, her smile as she parted ways with the duo she felt instantly attached to remained light and sincere, wishing Sofia the best of recovery and a promise to catch up with Fear the Walking Dead to Lexa, who wore the same wistful half-smile she had worn when she talked about Romeo and Juliet, back when they stumble into each other in the cafeteria, back when Clarke knew she was so terribly _screwed_.

@@@@

With a restful night behind them at the Hilton Brooklyn New York hotel and a satisfying breakfast in their stomach, the Woods women found themselves back in the chilly environment that was The Barclays Center on Sunday morning, the Fire and Ice competition having had reached its semi-finals phase. Even though Sofia wouldn’t be skating, the sassy brunette had been intent on being there to support her team, particularly her best friend, who maintained a spotless track record in his division as Wyatt had finished in first place in all of his solos, so far.

Although there was something a little off with her sister, Lexa observed from her seat in the atrium, right next to Sofia, the younger Woods constantly shifting in her seat and craning her neck left and right as if looking for something she couldn’t quite see.

The TV star thought back to how she found her little sister in an almost numb state when she came back from that encounter with a certain blonde doctor that made her heart serenade- how she had passed it off on the pain and exhaustion Sofia must have been feeling at the time.

Brows pulling in a slight frown and eyes wide and careful, Lexa turned to her left and subtly ducked her head to avoid being heard by her sister as she discreetly murmured to Anya, “Am I the only one who thinks Sof is being uncharacteristically weird?”

Anya lifted her head from where it was glued to her phone, a momentary questioning look forming in her coffee brown gaze as she lowly replied, “What makes you say that?”

Lexa partially shrugged with her right shoulder as she let her gaze wander on the view before her; A single white spotlight shadowed the lone figure of a muscular young man in an exotic black and red form-fitting jumpsuit with flowy sleeves, its glitters dancing with the light cast on them as the skater swayed from side to side on the ice as majestically as a great white swan gliding across the surface of a lake.

“I don’t know, she has this antsy energy about her since we got here which is a far cry from the very confident, borderline cocky Sofia we’re used to.” Lexa tore her impressed gaze from the figure skater and instead landed it back on her older cousin through the thin lenses of her round, designer glasses.

Meanwhile, Sofia, using the fact that her sister and cousin were talking to each other and thus, not paying too much attention to her advantage, sneakily plucked her phone out from her jacket pocket, she had stolen it back when Lexa was in the shower earlier in the morning, and opened the message app before she began to type a new text with unsure fingers to Charlotte.

 **_Sofia Woods (11:24 am)_ **  
_Hey, I know you probably don’t want to see me right now, but could you please give me five minutes of your time and meet me near the snacks bar? I need to talk to you._

The sister of Hollywood’s golden child waited anxiously for the three little dots to appear on her screen, her mind going back to the day before, how deeply shaken Charlotte’s words had left her.

Her answer came far more rapidly than Sofia would have thought it would, if at all.

 **_Charlotte Vidovic (11:30 am)_ **  
_You have five minutes, not a second more._

Suddenly, Sofia was nervous again and she needed an excuse to leave.

“Hey Jas, I have to go to the bathroom, I won’t be long.”

Lexa eyed her up and down in a calculate way before an affectionate grin curled her lush lips, “That’s alright, love.”

With that, Sofia took her courage with her and hastily left the safety of her sister and cousin’s company to go on a totally unknown territory.

@@@@

Kids, Raven found out, were far more tiring than she could have ever imagined.

Here she was, chasing after an over-excited six-year-old in the middle of the Barclays Center’s junk food area with a coffee tray in one hand, charcoal black high heels in the other, leaving the brilliant engineer barefoot as she ran to catch up with the little girl in a lavender tutu a few yards ahead.

Raven Reyes was definitely _not_ dressed for an impromptu jogging. With her tight ripped skinny jeans and her thick NASA sweatshirt along the inconvenient gold watch attached to her left wrist, running was most definitely the last thing she wanted to do right now. The mechanic had to pass and squeeze herself between so many sweaty people in order to keep up with Rey she found her patience was running out dangerously fast.

“Rey Alexis Logan-Bowman, come here right now little lady!”

A hysteric, high-pitched shriek followed in response before a series of delighted childish giggles escaped the young figure skater’s throat at Raven’s weak attempt to be stern with her friend’s niece, her little legs picking up an even faster pace and further distanced herself from her breathless pursuer.

“You have to catch me, Rayray!” The girl shouted with mischief and Raven cursed herself for agreeing to accompany Lincoln’s niece to the bathroom. Seriously, how could this three feet tall child run fast like that and make her, Raven Reyes, a grown ass woman and awesome kickboxer, sweat like she had been running a marathon on a slope for three hours?

“You little devil,” Raven mumbled to herself as she squinted to make out the small child in the mass of people surrounding her, Rey now positively not in the exasperated woman’s sight field anymore. Around her, men, women, and children merged into several lines as they waited their turn to be served at the many fast food restaurants, went in and out of the bathrooms, she caught a glimpse of a group of immature teenagers cackling at one of their friends grossly trying to eat an entire hot dog in a single bite, and of course they were the usual soccer moms forcing their kids to take cheesy pictures.

The area was so crowded and Raven was beginning to freak out because holy shit, she couldn’t see Rey and the little girl was alone in a huge space filled with strangers and oh fuck, what would she say to Lincoln, that she had been bested by a six-year-old doubly smaller than herself? No, that certainly wouldn’t do.

So Raven moved even more frantically, her head going left and right in a loop as she constantly swept the public area with her eyes while shouting for the little girl to come back. She was so preoccupied with finding Rey that Raven didn’t even notice the teenager with chestnut brown hair standing in front of her, the girl’s hands nervously fiddling with her phone as she, too, looked as if she was searching for someone. They both didn’t pay attention to their surroundings and so, the inevitable happened. The next thing she knew, Raven walked straight into something that was definitely not a wall and simultaneously, with the force of things, spilled the entirety of her coffee tray on the ground.

“ _Mierda_!” She yelped as the hot liquid came in contact with her bare feet and burned her skin in the process and completely missed the rushed “Sorry!” that came out of the other girl’s mouth, for as soon as Raven switched to Spanish, Rey magically appeared in front of her, her clear eyes enlarged and stunned.

“Okay, Rayray?”

Raven snapped her head up and instantly stopped feeling the hot pain on her feet as it was replaced by a mix of intense relief and profound exasperation upon finally having Rey back at her side. The Latina took the skater by the shoulder and pinned her with a scolding stare which really came more from worry than anger.

“Rey you little rat, don’t ever do something like that ever again you hear me? You were so far ahead, how come you came back so fast?”

Rey shrugged sheepishly as she fixed her gaze on her hands, “I heard you speak Spanish and so I was scared I would be in trouble, sorry Raven!”

Raven sighed in defeat as she pulled the adorable little girl into her arms, just glad that she had found her at last.

“It’s okay, little R. Don’t do that again, okay? I was really scared for a second.”

The two embraced for a while, neither of them taking note of the third party standing with her arms lazily folded over her chest, a sly smirk on full display at the corner of her pillowy lips as she addressed the engineer in front of her, “So, will we talk about the fact that you spilled coffee all over my shirt or..?”

Sofia waited as it took another couple of seconds before the woman with the silky raven haired ponytail registered that she was being spoken to, before looking up in the provenance of the unknown voice.

Lexa Woods’s sister witnessed the stranger’s jaw fell and her dark brown eyes go twice their size in visible shock, her face the epitome of a cartoon character as she looked at Sofia like she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“No. Fucking. Way.”

Rey curiously tugged on Raven’s hand but the stunned woman had all but forgotten about her friend’s niece in her sheer state of surprise, realizing the presence of Sofia Woods meant one other certain thing.

Alexandria Jasmine Woods was in the building.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I came up with an idea and I would like to have your opinion on it, please. Since I have a job and college is three weeks away, I don't have as much time to write as I would like and thus, update pretty slowly, I decided to try writing shorter chapters but update more often. That way, you guys can still have something to hold on to while I write new chapters. The chapters would be around 5k-5.5k words instead of 6.5k+, which is still something. So, what do you think, shorter chapters and faster updates, or longer chapters and fewer updates? Love you all!


	8. Of collisions and revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven meets her idol and Sofia learns something thoroughly unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, I'm officially a college student!
> 
> I decided to update tonight since I'll have less time to write because of school - I already have assignments and readings to do for my classes and I work practically all the time this weekend, so I judged it best to cut this chapter short and update now. I know this isn't much, but it's better than nothing, right?
> 
> Anyway, enjoy ch8!
> 
> (picks up right after ch7) 
> 
> :)

Lexa fucking Woods was at the same place at the same time as she, Raven Reyes, and right in front of her, with coffee all over her fucking shirt, stood her favorite actress’s treasured little sister, Sofia.

Raven didn’t know what shocked her most, the fact that _Alicia Clark_ was near her or the fact that she’d somehow, thunderclap shoutout to Rey Alexis Logan-Bowman, managed to spill, not one, but _four_ coffees over fucking Sofia Woods’s blouse which had to have cost at least a shit load of money, the dumbfounded mechanic was sure.

Lexa Woods’s sister was still waiting for her to say something, that same expectant smirk on her plush lips, while Rey still tugged insistently on her hand, intimidated by the presence of someone she didn’t know no doubt, and Raven didn’t know what to do. She was immobile as an ice statue, her feet stubbornly rooted in the ground, conflicted between wanting to run away to her friends and bombarding the skater with questions, starting with why the fuck wasn’t Sofia getting ready to go on the ice for the semi-finals.

But Raven Reyes was shamelessly a fangirl, and she felt like it was her duty to make the most of her lucky encounter with a celebrity, well that and the fact that she knew Octavia and Bellamy would absolutely kill her if they learned she chickened out on a Woods sibling.

However, the usually very talkative engineer was so stunned to actually have _Sofia Brooklyn Woods_ standing in front of her she couldn’t think of anything to say.

And then she remembered exactly what had caused her lucky run-in with the famous younger girl.

“Oh fuck your shirt, I spilled my coffees on you! Are you okay? Did I burn you?” Came Raven’s fretting answer, her eyes having turned as round and wide as golf balls as she did frantic once-overs on Sofia, who couldn’t hide her amused little snort at the fussing stranger.

The injured figure skater then proceeded to look down on her clothes and flinched when she saw that, indeed, the sudden heat she felt in her lower belly wasn’t due to the fact that she was about to face Charlotte Vidovic, _far_ from that, rather it was because there were many splotches of dark liquid imbibed in her favorite white Italian blouse. Lexa would _so_ kill her.

Oh well, it was an accident after all, wasn’t it?

“My top is probably ruined, that is an understatement. Don’t worry though, I’m all good, thanks..” Sofia trailed off with an unspoken question in her voice which Raven picked up on easily, though not without looking even more incredulous as she eagerly replied.

“Raven, my name’s Raven Reyes.”

Sofia made an appreciative ‘hum’ with her throat and pointedly fixed her gaze on the Latina’s dark hair.

“Cool name, pretty fitting also. I’m Sofia, by the way.” The brunette teenager casually grinned.

“Yeah, I know.”

Raven wanted to fling herself into space at how pitifully she blurted out those three words without thinking for a second of the way it would have made her appear like a total stalker, which she totally wasn’t. Raven Reyes was too awesome to waste her time spying on other people’s lives. There _had_ been a few occasions where she happened to spend a little too much time on Lexa Woods and Echo Tele’s respective Instagrams but hey, she was bored and her phone was _right there_. She could make an exception for her favorite stars of Fear the Walking Dead, right.

Right?

Who cared what she did with her spare time, anyway?

“Oh, really?” The Woods’s youngest sounded genuinely surprised as she wasn’t truly used to being recognized when she wasn’t in the presence of her sister. It felt weirdly nice if she was being honest, even though it still caught her off guard that a stranger would look at her with that same wonder and disbelief she could easily detect in Raven Reye’s eyes. That was Lexa’s everyday life, except it was hundreds of people who recognized her in the streets, Sofia realized.

Raven then decided that she wouldn’t give a crap if she sounded like a twelve-year-old schoolgirl, the first half of her favorite famous duo was four feet in front of her and she wouldn’t pass on that kind of opportunity which could be her only one.

“ _Of course_ I do, I am a big fan of both you and your sister. Lexa Woods will forever be the best actress in my eyes and you are a fantastic skater, might I add.” The older woman sincerely offered, making Sofia humbly blush at the compliment so naturally spoken by Raven Reyes.

“You actually have seen me skate before?” The teenager asked with those big amazed sea eyes that made it so easy to take a liking to, flattery dripping like honey in her sweet voice.

Raven effortlessly and swiftly hoisted little Rey up and settled her on her hips as Lincoln’s young niece made adorable grabby hands, needing the extra attention from her favorite person right after Clarke and Lincoln, before Raven’s expression smoothly turned from one of utter awe to her usual teasing simper when meeting the Woods girl’s bashful gaze.

“I happen to follow all three of your sister, sister’s best friend and cousin on social media, and let’s just say, there are enough recordings of you skating in there to last for the whole duration of The Lord of the Rings’ movies. Nice fan club you have, I say.” It was then that Raven heard a very familiar voice nearing from behind and the small woman stilled in apprehension, knowing precisely what was coming.

“Raven, finally! Could you explain to me how can a bathroom trip last more than thirty minutes? O, Linc and I had to split up to find you two.” Clarke had a worried scowl painted on her face, accentuating the lines on her forehead as she expectantly crossed her arms over her chest, and Raven honestly didn’t know what to say. How could she tell her best friend that they’d been gone that long because she’d had to run after a tiny six year old because said little girl in a tutu had somehow escaped from her grasp, resulting in the longest most tiring game of hide and seek Raven had ever played, only to end by crashing into Lexa Woods’s sister and spilling their coffee all over the teenaged girl because she was frantically looking for Rey? That just wasn’t credible.

“Clarkie!”

“Hey, Doctor Clarke!”

The joyous cries of both Sofia Woods and Rey echoed each other the second after the girls spotted the blonde head approaching them, positively succeeding at diverging Clarke’s attention. Raven sent a silent prayer to the heavens, it seemed like the odds were in her favor after all.

Clarke mindlessly accepted Rey in her arms as the tiny skater started to squirm excitedly and made grabby hands once again in Raven’s hold, affectionately kissing her cheek before sending a surprise yet warm smile in Sofia’s way, whose expressive blue eyes had lit up when they’d landed on her absolute favorite doctor ever.

“Sofia, hi! I thought you’d be back home as of now, considering you are unable to skate - wait, you are not about to perform, are you? Because if that’s the case, I will personally see to it that you not even as put a foot on the ice.” Raven looked at how casually and fondly the two interacted with each other and the brilliant engineer had to take a step back because what the fuck? Clarke knew _Sofia Woods_? Barely a second after that initial shock though, Raven had to take yet another step back as her best friend’s words about the girl with the flowing chestnut mane not allowed to complete her competition caught up with the Latina, because double what the fuck? What happened to Sofia? Raven had so many questions fighting to get out, yet the only thing she managed to do was to repeatedly open and close her mouth like a fish out of water gasping for air, if that was even a thing. Meanwhile, Rey seemed to have forgotten about everyone else as she braided Clarke’s hair with great care and undivided attention.

“I promise I’m not! Actually, we stayed because I wanted to support my best friend as well as the rest of my crew for the remaining of the competition: we all worked so hard to get here and I want to be there until the very end, even if just as a moral support.” Sofia combed a hair through her long curls and brightly grinned as she spoke about her club, it was clear there was nowhere else she would rather be. Clarke utterly loved the passion and devotion her young patient so obviously harbored for everything that surrounded figure skating.

“You can’t skate?” Raven bluntly asked, her face revealing a series of upset and shocked twitches as she nearly broke her neck for how abruptly she snapped her head in the younger Woods’s direction.

Sofia’s grin swiftly fell and was replaced by an irritated pout, her nostrils flaring ever so subtly as she brusquely shoved her hands in her jacket pockets while Clarke sadly smile at her, “I fell on my head during my duet and now I have a concussion, Doctor Clarke said I can’t go on the ice for at least two weeks.”

Raven paused.

“Hold on, _Doctor Clarke_?” Raven had her hand outstretched, motioning them to stop for a few seconds. So that was why Sofia Woods and Clarke knew each other, and Clarke didn’t tell her!

Clarke sheepishly smiled at her friend, visibly reading Raven’s mind as the perceptive woman’s brow was cocked in a clear display of inquiry, “I was the one who treated her at the hospital, Sofia’s my patient. Well, she was.”

Though, Raven barely had time to process the new information before she caught a glimpse of impossibly attractive high cheekbones and a gaze so green it nearly made her forget her own name as they wandered around the open space and then fell on the teenager next to the mechanic. It wasn’t long before Raven realized fucking _Lexa Woods_ was marching _right_ in her direction, seeking out her younger sister probably, and Raven’s first instinct after freezing in place and enlarging her eyes until they hurt was to turn to Clarke, who had her back facing the approaching celebrity as she put Rey down and was entirely obvious to her freaking out friend. The tan-skinned woman tried as best as she possibly could to _not completely_ lose her shit but then again, it was _Lexa Woods_ we were talking about. So when she saw Sofia turn her attention to her older sister when the other woman reached her with blatant relief in her wonderful pine gaze, Raven spun on herself and not so discreetly whisper-yelled at her best friend to gain her attention.

“ _Clarke_.”

“ _Clarke_.”

“ _CLARKE_!”

Clarke, who was still crunched down in front of Rey as her thumbs quickly flew over her phone’s keyboard to alert Lincoln and Octavia that she’d found “the kids” while little Rey kept on babbling to the blonde about her and Raven’s adventure, didn’t so much as blink up at her friend in acknowledgement. Raven was getting desperate. And so, after what seemed like forever to Raven, when Clarke finally got up and noticed the gaping face of her snarky friend, the blonde curiously pulled down her eyebrows at the young genius in a silent question.

Raven proceeded to awkwardly gesture behind with her neck but only managed to look like she was spasming, only resulting in deepening the frown on her best friend’s face even more.

“Raven, what are you doing?”

“ _LexaWoodsisbehindme._ ” The starstruck mechanic had her teeth so clenched it was nearly impossible to make out a word she had said, her gawking caramel eyes and arched brows urging Clarke to understand. Her efforts proved to be useless though as the other girl’s features contorted with sheer confusion.

“What?”

Raven bit hard on the inside of her cheeks to prevent the exasperated bark from coming out of her mouth at her friend’s dumbness, and in a last attempt to just show Clarke what she was talking about, Raven abruptly grabbed the puzzled blonde by her shoulders and rotated her until Clarke’s head directly faced the object of her small heart attack. When she saw the intern suddenly flying forward though, Raven’s already wide eyes tripled their size and her hand flew to her mouth as it only then came to her that, in her frantic state, she hadn’t thought for a moment of the strength at which she had forcefully moved Clarke. Oh fuck.

Lexa was facing her sister as she scowled at Sofia for being gone way much longer than what was originally expected, her overprotective side coming out full force while she explained how worried she had been that somehow something had happened to worsen the injured girl’s head, when Sofia’s azure pair broadened and barely managed to shriek a short “Jas behind you!”, before a soft body collided into her and Lexa’s arms automatically wrapped around the person’s waist to keep them from falling. When the initial shock left and the actress’s eyes locked on a familiar pale sea gaze though, Lexa’s heart went to overdrive once again as she realized how _close_ Clarke Griffin’s face was to hers and how _tight_ her grip around the beautiful doctor’s frame was.

The blonde marvel had subconsciously grabbed Lexa by the shoulders in her fall, causing the brunette’s body to incline forward and Clarke’s, in turn, to bend backward, Lexa towering over the other woman as they both exhaled heavy breaths, the air around them becoming thick and hot. Lexa felt a spike of high powered electricity run down her spine and the only thing her hazy mind could think of at their close proximity was how perfect and irrevocably _right_ Clarke Griffin felt in her arms, and that she was entirely unwilling to let go of the goddess she held.

“Dr. Griffin.” Lexa murmured in her daze, everything else that wasn’t the blonde with sky eyes completely disappearing with the lively buzz of the bustling crowd surrounding them.

Considering the rather intimate position the two women had inadvertently found themselves in, Clarke found it impossibly endearing, the way the brunette had so formally addressed her and the blonde didn’t think it twice when her powder blues softened at the edge around her charmed grin, simultaneously softening her features as Clarke rasped a private “You can call me Clarke, you know, I am no longer treating your sister,” to a still enraptured Lexa, the woman with the grassy gaze high on the feeling of the blonde pressed so close to her.

Lexa’s apple green eyes admiringly danced around the other girl’s pale face and let herself bask in the scent she had only dreamed this stunning fair-haired woman could have had, and the least the actress could say was that it was heavenly: An enticing fragrance of freshness enveloped her nostrils, what Lexa could only guess was a delicate mix of summer citrus and garden-fresh mint leaves were combined together to create the perfect marriage between those distinct odors. It was unique. Refreshing. So entirely Clarke Griffin. Lexa looked into those inviting pools of turquoise blue and tentatively rolled off the doctor’s name on the tip on her tongue, reveling in the new sensation it left on her lips.

“ _Klark_.”             

Clarke nearly damn _shivered_ as her name got out of those attractive plump lips, the word so different coming out of that mouth compared to how she was used to hearing it from everyone else. The way the brunette accentuated the “ _k_ ” at the end was so subtle yet so strikingly distinct it was like discovering her own name in a whole new light, it was _perfect_.

Feeling Raven’s stare literally piercing holes through her and even Sofia’s secret smirk making her cheeks go a little rosy, Clarke softly squeezed the hazelnut haired actress’s shoulders before letting go, although fairly reluctantly, to be perfectly honest.

“Thank you for catching me, Lexa. Is it okay if I call you that?” Clarke’s eyes burned with a genuine kindness Lexa had rarely seen before, one she knew would be extremely difficult to resist to. And so, Lexa nodded numbly, too elated by how her name had sounded so right coming out of Clarke’s mouth to do or say much more before she finally retracted her arms from around Clarke’s waist.

Lexa’s eyes fell on the smaller golden skinned woman holding a little girl by the hand a few steps behind as she detached herself from the doctor, and easily associated the awed expression in the Latina’s gasping stare as most of the fans tended to wear upon coming face to face with their idols. As always, it was Lexa’s pleasure to meet them and so redirected herself in the woman’s way and sweetly smiled at her.

“Hi there.”

Clarke watched Raven look to Lexa then to her, then to Lexa and back at her as her chocolate eyes widened even more and when her jaw actually fell open Clarke saw something shift in those orbs before a sheepish grin stretched her lips under her friend’s loaded look. A look Clarke knew meant something along the lines of “What didn’t you tell me, you traitor” and that she and Raven would have a long discussion once there were alone. Clarke wasn’t sure if she was looking forward to that moment.

Raven stood rooted in place, her eyebrows pulled so high Clarke was actually pretty sure they were going to disappear under the smoothness of Google’s director of Data Center’s lush brown hair, then twisted her neck behind as if searching for any other person Lexa Woods might had been speaking to. Nobody paid them any mind, too busy with their own business to have noticed the actress. Strongly doubting the Hollywood’s darling had said hello to the overpacked trash bins in the center of the food area, Raven blankly looked back at the brunette wearing a knee length black woolen coat and light brown round glasses, all three other women waiting for her to answer.

It was only  _then_ that Raven realized Lexa Woods had been, in fact, talking to her, her eyes blinking once like she was getting out of a daze as she gasped unnecessarily loudly, in Clarke’s opinion.

“Oh. You were actually talking to me?” Raven had her thumb pointing her own chest incredulously which made Sofia snort with derision, the Reyes girl’s reaction to her sister all too amusing for her until the elite skater’s attention was stolen by the presence of Charlotte Vidovic slowly making her entrance in the far end of the large space, her face flawlessly painted with her costume makeup and a sleek neat bun midway on the back of her head. She was wearing the same grey sweatpants she had been wearing when she came to visit Sofia at the hospital over her dress though the top half of her body was uncovered, revealing the tight fabric of her costume clinging to her skin, her arms and shoulders bare and toned.

Sofia’s smile faded instantly and instead felt her stomach twist with nerves and dread, taking advantage of the fact that Lexa was actively engaged in a conversation with Raven Reyes to sneakily slip out and meet Charlotte halfway.

 

@@@@    

 

“Your five minutes are starting now, speak before it’s too late.”

The girls had found a relatively secluded spot in an unused corner near a door leading to some kind of stockroom in order to be able to discuss more privately, the walk there having been painfully quiet and more than a little awkward, Sofia being led by a very tensed Charlotte Vidovic with her back rigid and her muscular shoulders squared in an almost military posture. The Woods girl had kept her gaze solely on the back of the other girl’s head the whole time until they had stopped. Once there, Charlotte made an abrupt one-eighty on herself and stared Sofia down with such authority flashing in her eyes the generally snarky teenager had simultaneously lost all her usual trademark bite. And so here there were now, Charlotte backing her into a corner with a single narrowing of her hard brown eyes and Sofia nervously playing with the rings on her ring and index fingers as she tried to formulate a coherent sentence under the scrutinizing look of the Vidovic specimen.

Being there now with the girl she had called her enemy for as long as she could remember, whom had completely shocked Sofia when she had admitted that she actually cared about her, in what way, the brunette didn’t know, made Sofia wish she would have prepared a speech or a least ordered her thoughts on what to say to this other girl. Sofia had reached out to her on impulse, and though she genuinely wanted to talk about their confrontation at the hospital and what all of that had meant, she wasn’t prepared _at all_ to face Charlotte. However, they were here and now wasn’t the time to back down, so Sofia did what she had been doing her whole life and dove in head first into the unfamiliar.

The celebrity’s younger sister began carefully under the guarded stare of the taller skater, her voice taking a tentative but assured tone when she met Charlotte’s eyes with her own night blues, “Okay, well um– I would like to begin by apologizing for the way I behaved when you came to see me on Saturday morning at the hospital: I was a jerk to you for an uncalled reason other than I thought you were there to gloat about the competition and what my injury would mean to your scores. Clearly, I was very wrong and so I offer you my sincere apologies. Now, that brings me to my other wonder which is, and in no way am I meaning to sound rude, but what were you doing in my room, to begin with? I mean it’s not like we are friends or something – we never really talk at all, in fact. Honestly, I kind of always thought we were more like rivals, you know, since we are each of our clubs’ best prospects and all that…”

Sofia trailed off, glad to have succeeded to sagely put her thoughts to words though that small shred of confidence faltered greatly when she saw the other brunette’s reaction – perhaps lack of reaction would be a better way to phrase it, seeing as Charlotte had that same impassive blank regard firmly directed on her. There were so many walls erected in that gaze Sofia couldn’t even begin to guess what was the other girl’s train of thoughts, as Charlotte flatly flicked her left wrist to glance at her Daniel Wellington watch, yes, Sofia had noticed, but only because she had the same in a different color, before nodding her acknowledgement of what Sofia had just said.

When the brown-eyed skater finally opened her mouth, her voice was disturbingly neutral once she started to formulate her answer to Sofia, and it irked the smaller brunette fantastically to not be able to read the girl she had thought disliked her just as much as she herself did, at least that was before the terribly confusing events of Saturday morning had unfolded.. – this whole situation with Charlotte was just so unsettling to Sofia, she had no clue what to do about it.

“You’re right: you were a complete jerk talking to me like that and giving me terrible false intentions. You were arrogant and completely disrespectful, that, of course, goes without saying how you literally invaded my personal space. You tried to make me feel like shit for having dared to want to do something nice to cheer you up because I know how much figure skating means to you, even if, like you say, we don’t talk often. Literally everyone knows how important it is for you, hell you were on fucking _Ellen_ talking about this weekend! So yes, what you did was wrong, but I can tell by the look on your face that you were sincere and therefore accept your apology. But I was serious back then, I won’t tolerate another stunt like that, Sofia.”

Oh God, she really had been a major ass to Charlotte, had she? Hearing it from the girl’s mouth really put things into perspective for Sofia and the more she thought about it the more she felt guilty for lashing out like she did on her. Had she been in the other girl’s place and someone would have attacked her like that out of the blue, Sofia was pretty certain she would have lost her cool right away; she had to give Charlotte the credit she deserved for having been able to put her foot down while still being respectful to her. Yes, Charlotte raised her voice and was firm with her words even back at the hospital though had been mindful of what came out of her mouth, whereas Sofia herself hadn’t.

And as if the other brunette forgiving her hadn’t create enough contradictive feelings for the day already, Sofia witnessed as her classmate broke off her though act so suddenly it was actually disturbing, and slouched her shoulders the tiniest bit while her gaze, up until then steely and impenetrable, became the most vulnerable Sofia had ever seen it: the Vidovic girl’s café au lait colored eyes no more held onto aquamarine gaze – they had turned their focus entirely to the ground and there was this uncharacteristic raw exposure shadowing them it made Sofia wonder how she could have ever assumed she knew anything about her.

Charlotte hesitantly pushed her hands in her sweats’ pockets while pulling up her shoulders and Sofia watched as the girl seemed to stutter the beginning of a sentence before cutting herself off, take a steadying breath and then started all over again. “About the other thing, I – I wasn’t lying when I said I cared about you... And I know this will sound weird to you because it is true that we aren’t exactly friends, you and I, but I genuinely worried when I learned about your injury. You see Sofia, the thing is: I’ve never considered you as my enemy, or whatever. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you view me as such, and frankly, it kind of pains me. Maybe it’s both our very competitive natures that placed us at odds with each other, or our pride – I don’t know, but I do know that there’s just something about you that interests me so much, and that you have a unique sense of humor which totally speaks to me, that you just have this vibe about you that makes me want to be around you. I guess what I want to say is that we may not be friends, Sofia, but I sure as hell think it’d be worth a try.”   

Charlotte Vidovic _cared_ about her and wanted to be friends with her? What kind of alternative universe was that? Sofia didn’t see that coming _at all_.  

It even brought a strange flutter in her belly, one that the youngest Woods woman had only ever experience when she was skating. It was weird, but she kind of..liked it?

This Charlotte girl was something else.

To be honest, she had always thought the girl despised her, that she thought lowly of Sofia. And now she told her all these heartfelt compliments and expressed real desire to try to build a friendship between the two of them? Even more though, Sofia was even beginning to take a liking to the idea of that concept. She, who had never missed an opportunity to speak her mind about how much she couldn’t bear Charlotte Vidovic’s mere existence. Oh, how the tables had turned.

“How would we even do this?” Sofia chased after the other girl’s gaze, blue eyes filled with questions and doubt. Charlotte looked at her watch again and this time she began to walk back in the direction of the rink section of the Barclays Center, a shy but determined little grin enhancing the natural beauty of her flawless facial structure. The girl’s deep browns twinkled with renewed hope and excitement when she returned the smaller skater’s look while Charlotte rubbed the palm of her hand on the nape of her neck, “I don’t know, I don’t want to force anything – it has to feel natural on both our sides; trying too much wouldn’t do any good. So let’s just give ourselves some time to actually process everything that has been said today and I guess we’ll see how things go from there. How does that sound?”

Sofia surprised herself when she felt herself smiling genuinely back at her once “worst enemy”, because had she ever really hated Charlotte in the first place? Perhaps yes, perhaps not – for now, the only important thing was the way Charlotte Vidovic’s grin widened into a warm smile as Sofia joined her hands at her back, her eyes gentle as they blinked slowly, herself starting to take small steps back into the direction where her sister was doubtlessly still being entertained by Raven Reyes.

“Good. It sounds good.”

For the first time ever, Sofia Woods had dared associating that sentiment with Charlotte Vidovic and, honestly, she didn’t even want to deny how _great_ it felt. Something had shifted between her and Charlotte and she was truly looking forward to see where that shift would take them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack Clexa in this, I promise the next one will be all about our favorite girls! 
> 
> I really hope you liked ch8 and if you appreciate my story, please share it - there's so many works in there that it'll disappear from the first page of the Clexa tag in minutes and get lost in the blink of an eye!
> 
> As always, don't be shy and leave a comment, you guys have no idea how I love having your feedback on my work.


	9. Of Sunday nights and bold moves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the end of the Fire and Ice Competition, our faves go celebrate in a cool Italian place, and our dear Lexa finally decides to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys it's been practically two months, jesus christ! I really hope you'll bear with me and don't give up on this story, just like I promise I won't, too. I just happen to be so fucking busy I barely have time to breathe!! Have no fear though, I love this fic and you guys way too much to abandon OIAH, which is basically my baby. Anyway, hope you'll like this one:)

Sunday evening marked the end of the 2018 edition of the Fire and Ice competition in Brooklyn and the Griffin-Reyes-Blake-Bowman crew decided to go out and eat at the restaurant in order to celebrate Rey’s great tournament, the little girl having won the fifth place overall in her division’s finals. As soon as Lincoln’s niece’s name had been announced in the silver microphone of the competition’s host, a ridiculously tall man with a lustrous salt and pepper hair and a moustache which would make many envious, the whole crew had erratically jumped out of their seats and erupted in wild cheers and hollers for the elated six-year-old. Clarke and her friends had watched with unmatched pride as Rey excitedly strutted her way to the announcer on the purple carpet spread out on the ice, the tiny figure skater accepting her shiny blue ribbon with eagerness before she very seriously offered her hand to the towering host, whose wide shoulders shook without restrain at the comically formal gesture, the slight lines at the corner of his mouth and eyes deepening as a booming laugh reverberated and made his apple of Adam bounce in his throat before he joyously took the young girl’s three times smaller hand in his large one.

Once the girl in the violet tutu came out of the locker room with her little sweats and candy pink Uggs, her black mane an absolute mess of tangled raven curls carelessly piled on top of her head with her favorite fluffy white hair band, Rey barreled into her uncle’s awaiting arms just as Lincoln effortlessly spun her around and then sat her on his shoulders.

Octavia looked at the two of them with the most smitten gaze Clarke and Raven had ever seen coming from their fiery jet-black haired friend as the Blake woman returned Rey’s dorky little wave with her own small one, the grin on the PE teacher’s face one of pure adoration.

Clarke, still high on the exhilarant feeling of having been pressed so close and so intimately to Lexa even just for a fleeting moment, but oh how those two short minutes had undeniably been the most ground-breaking of her young life, watched the adorable scene unfolding right in front of her with a blinding pearly white smile and, not wanting this wonderful day to end yet, invited all of her crew to go out to dinner.

“I don’t want any of you guys to even think of touching their wallet; tonight’s on me! Congratulation again, my very own little Tessa Virtue,” was what the blonde had happily exclaimed before she blew a kiss to Rey, ignoring what she knew would be a protesting purse of Lincoln’s lips, and a shrug followed immediately by a satisfied high-five by Raven and Octavia, who even though both made more than enough money to provide for themselves, would never turn the nose up at free food.

A cab ride and a pointless argument with Lincoln later, the gang was now seated at a long wooden table on a warmly fairy light illuminated terrace, at a classy little bistro in the heart of Brooklyn owned by the mother of one of Rey’s friends. _Florence_ , it was named. The small café-bistro restaurant was conceived to offer a flavor of Italy to its customers; from the large flag sporting the colors of the Italian peninsula hanging by the threshold, to the lyrical melody of violins and accordions lively flowing in the background, and the red brick wood oven filled with heavenly smelling pizzas, _Florence_ felt like being out in the streets of the Italian city on a Saturday night, lazily strolling around to the slow rhythm of live folk songs played by casual street musicians, looking for a place to eat. It was charmingly authentic, and even the waiters looked like they were all from Italian origins, Clarke noticed. She was impressed by the extreme care Rey’s friend’s mom most have put in her restaurant, to go as far as hiring all Italian employees. Seeing the awed look in his best friend’s blue gaze, Lincoln explained to her that Valentina’s mother, Angelica, was herself descendant from an Italian family, and that _Florence_ had been her pet-project upon moving from her native country to New York City. It had taken a lot of time, money and effort to get the restaurant on the map, but after over seven years since her move to America, Angelica Fallaci’s _Florence_ was now one of Brooklyn’s most popular bistros and the go-to place of many New Yorkers and tourists alike. All the while during her uncle’s talking, Rey nodded solemnly thinking about her friend Valentina and her super cool and pretty mommy Angelica, who often made amazingly delicious pastries which she put in Valentina’s lunchbox for her to share with her friends, though more often than not it ended up being Valentina and Rey eating all the baked goods by themselves.

While Clarke looked impressed, Octavia turned to Lincoln with a curious smirk on her lips, her brow quirked inquisitively, “How come you know all of this about your niece’s friend’s mom?”

Raven snorted into her glass of red wine before an all-too familiar smugness lit up her mischievous brown eyes, an expression Clarke knew could mean only one thing –

“I think we all know why, Mr. Ladykiller – OUCH, Octavia that hurt!”, was Raven’s shrieking answer as her jet-black haired friend promptly kicked her in the tibia under the table with a seething glare painted all over her face. Apparently, Octavia didn’t appreciate her innuendo concerning the tall med student.

Meanwhile, Clarke rolled her eyes at her friends’ childish behaviours – Raven and Octavia never seemed to stop trying to get on one another’s nerves, even if they were both twenty-seven-year-olds. It was ridiculous. On his side of the table, Lincoln lightly furrowed his brows while slowly shifting his gaze between Tweedledee and Tweedledum, likely trying to understand what was going on that he hadn’t caught up with yet. And Rey, well Rey had burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles the second Octavia’s foot had collided with Raven’s sensitive tibia bone and the engineer’s face had contorted into an agonized grimace. Clarke sighed deeply and shook her head exasperatingly, though she couldn’t hide the fond smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

What a weirdly attaching little gang she had.

The blonde amusingly found her best friend’s confused dark brown gaze as she gestured at the pair of buffoons with her cup of rosé in hand while she explained, “In brief, Linc, Raven is being her usual provocative self and Octavia is jealous.”

“Shut up, Clarke.” Although the woman’s voice had warning in its tone, and her eyes flashed dangerously to her blonde friend, Octavia couldn’t control the small blush rising on her cheeks at Clarke’s implications. Neither could Lincoln, judging by the two little dark spots appearing on his cheek bones, much to Raven’s immense pleasure.

Clarke simply shrugged before taking a generous sip of her wine, “I’m only stating facts, O. You can’t hide anything from us; your face is way to transparent for that and you know it.”

That seemed to catch Raven’s attention, and Clarke watched as the Reyes woman’s perfectly shaped eyebrow raised with sass just as she cocked her head defiantly, resting it on her right fist before taking a slow sip of alcohol. The blue-eyed intern’s heart rate picked up when she recognized the calculating look on her friend’s face, that same look she had seen when –

“You certainly _do_ know how to keep a secret, Clarkey-dooh.”

Yeah, she didn’t know how in the world she had thought Raven could have forgotten about their run-in with Lexa Woods, more specifically _what_ the small woman had learn about Clarke and her connection to the Woods sisters when they came across earlier in the day. She had hoped that particular conversation would not happen until at least later that night, when they would be back in the private confines of their apartment. The Griffin woman wasn’t yet prepared for the massive interrogation followed by the fan girl screams she just _knew_ would follow a conversation revealing how she had already met both Lexa and Sofia Woods, and all that without telling her best friends about it. Clarke nervously fidgeted with her necklace as she mentally prepared herself for the bombardment about to take place right here right now, on the terrace of _Florence_ café-bistro, in the heart of Brooklyn on a Sunday night.

Rey lifted her chin from her coloring on the kid’s menu when she heard Raven, a red wax pencil firmly held in her left hand as her mouth took the shape of an “O”, “Secret, Klarki?”

Octavia, fully recovered from her earlier little slip-up and her hand casually resting on Lincoln’s forearm, pivoted her head so her gaze found the cornered blonde’s, a curious frown scrunching up the two rectangular lines of hair above her eyes.

“A secret? What does that mean?”

Raven smirked, satisfied with herself for making her blonde best friend blush, her eyes crinkling with barely concealed mirth. She crossed her arms and let them land gracelessly over the table as she smugly asked, “Yeah Clarke, what does it mean? I’m curious.”

The blonde woman traced the rim of her glass nervously while sending silent death prayers to her Latina friend for putting her on the spot like that, four pair of eyes expectantly focusing on her. She held her breath and casually answered, “Oh you know, just that I kind of treated Lexa Woods’s little sister the other day, and I kind of already have met Lexa.”

“YOU WHAT?”

Octavia had wild wide unbelieving eyes as her mouth hung open, her jaw completely slack. The hand which had previously been loosely wrapped around Lincoln’s forearm was now crushing the man in a deathly grip, resulting in his jaw to twitch painfully before the Blakes youngest remembered herself and eased her vice hold with a sheepish grin in apology. She immediately snapped her head back in the direction of her blonde friend, her tone picking up once more as she locked her gaze with Clarke’s. Raven watched the whole ordeal unfold with a shit eating, smug smirk. Clarke hated her.

The caught off guard blonde took another generous gulp of her drink to both buy herself some time to figure exactly what she would tell her impatient friend and to feel more confident about the whole thing, since she knew her best friends would absolutely never let her hear the end of it. So, liquid courage indeed.

“Long story short, Sofia, Lexa’s little sister, had a figure skating competition here in Brooklyn this weekend, and she got injured while performing. She and her cousin Anya came to BHC and, after a long talk with my supervisor, I ended up volunteering to treat her…”

“That doesn’t explain why the fuck you looked so intimately familiar with fucking _Lexa Woods_ , Clarke.”

“Wait what, _intimately close_? What happened?”

"Well if you guys would just stop interrupting me for a second, then I could tell you the rest of the story.”

“Sorry Clarke.”

“Yeah yeah, please continue, C.”

Clarke stayed silent for a few more seconds, pinning down Raven and Octavia with a knowing look of her sky blues, before she picked up where she left, “Anyway, I didn’t actually meet Lexa until the morning after Sofia had been taken care of – she was in L.A for work or something. We actually bumped into each other in the hospital’s cafeteria a couple of hours after we first met in Sofia’s room – I was getting out and she was coming in to buy food for her sister – and we talked a bit until I had to get back to work and her to her sister. That’s it I guess, here’s how I met the Woods.”

Although Octavia had stars in her eyes at the blonde’s retelling of how she came to know the gorgeous actress, she still sported a sceptic look in her clear eyes. She then proceeded to glance between her two best friends, interrogation marks evident in her crystal gaze as Lincoln rubbed his hand comfortingly across her upper back. How they still weren’t official yet still eluded Clarke; the two of them exuded “big couple energy”, as Raven would say, whatever that meant. Clearly their friends were in love with one another. Clarke observed them with a fond, albeit admittedly a little envious even, smile on her lips; Lincoln and Octavia had something beautiful going on between them, it made the blonde’s heart ache a little bit. She also wouldn’t question the fact that flashes of intense green eyes and soft smiles on perfect pillow lips suddenly popped into her mind. Luckily for her though, she was prevented from further exploring her perilous train of thought by Octavia’s next question.

“That is so fucking unbelievable, Griffin, but that doesn’t explain how Raven already knew all of that and not me, so is the fact that she talked about it like she witnessed it, which, by your telling, she wasn’t there to see you two interacting the two of you together. So, what happened next? Did you meet again after the hospital episode?”

It was Clarke’s turn then to smirk in the direction of the small Latina, reflecting the same eyebrow lift Raven had smugly flashed at her in the first place as she knew that part was partly of the brunette’s doing, and telling Octavia about it would inevitably force her to reveal how she had almost lost Lincoln’s niece, while he sat right in front of her. Raven was not the only one who could have her fun.

“That part I’ll let Raven explain. Speak up, Reyes. Tell our friends how  _you_ met Sofia and Lexa Woods.”

Raven’s Cheshire grin instantly got wiped off her face when Rey began to clap her hands excitedly, the little girl still clearly remembering how she escaped from the woman’s grasp. Lincoln watched his niece’s animated reaction, then Raven’s sudden flushed one, and as if something had clicked into place, turned toward the suspiciously quiet engineer with an amused, inquisitive little smile, “Would I be correct to assume this is somehow related to the awfully long bathroom break you and Rey had this afternoon?”

Raven groaned as she put her face in her hands and began to explain the whole thing to her friends, but not before sending a scathing glare to Clarke, who was silently chuckling in her cup of wine, delighted to have been able to make her sassy friend have a taste of her own medicine. As she put her glass down though, the sight of a _very_ familiar dark brunette head, beautiful round face and eyes the colour of rich dark chocolate, stole her attention away from the ongoing conversation around her. The slightly smaller woman was marching straight in their table’s direction, a charming lopsided smile hung to her bright red painted lips aimed at the blonde, and Clarke found herself instantly reciprocating the gesture with her own brilliant one as the view of the stunning brunette brought back hundreds of memories Clarke cherished dearly in her heart. She felt herself getting up before she even thought of it and breathed out warmly, her friends all but forgotten,

“Ontari!”

 

@@@@

 

“To Wyatt, my awesome, kickass best friend! Wait, how do we say, “a toast” in Italian?”

“It’s _brindare_.”

“Of course Lexa would know that.”

After Wyatt’s win in his finals in the evening, the Woods crew found themselves at _Florence_ , a charming little bistro in the center of Brooklyn Lexa had found after doing a quick research for restaurants on her phone. Its page was rated four stars on Google, and since it served Italian food and the _décor_ looked absolutely beautiful, it wasn’t long that Anya, Wyatt, Sofia and Lexa all agreed on eating there. They were seated on the exterior terrace, which was lit by low hanging light bulbs, creating an intimate ambiance combined with the dark October evening sky. With the additions of the dim light of white candles gently burning in the center of their round table, and the thematic Italian serenades beautifully flowing in the background, Lexa couldn’t resist closing her eyes for a short moment to just simply bask in the fresh autumnal air, the brunette appreciating every second she got to spend in the company of the most important people in her life. Swiftly, and with a wide smile softening her delicate features, Lexa pulled out her phone from her butt pocket and took a candid picture of her little group. When her older cousin caught her though, Anya flashed her a knowing smirk as she twirled the base of her cup of wine around, “God Lex, you’re such a whole ass softie.”

Lexa shrugged innocently, her eyes softening even more as she looked at her baby sister sharing an animated conversation with her best friend; it didn’t matter if Sofia didn’t win anything, Lexa was unbelievably proud of her no matter what. Unconditionally. She didn’t know what was in the air that night, perhaps it was the relief that Sofia was okay, that her injury wasn’t as severe as she first feared, or maybe it was the cozy mood of _Florence_ rendering her all soft and warm from the inside. There was also the possibility that she was just really fucking emotional.

That was the most likely option. Anyway, she felt amazing and she felt the need to express it.

“I can’t help it that I love you guys so much.”

Anya rolled her eyes before lightly punching the actress on the bicep, “Gee Alexandria, what has gotten into you?” The older woman’s expression then turned teasing as she suggestively waggled her eyebrows, “Or is it that Dr. Griffin person that turned you into such as pile of mush?”

Suddenly, Lexa thought her cutlery looked fascinating.

Anya snorted derisively, “Look at you, little cousin, being all shy and blushing at the mention of a pretty girl. I didn’t know we were back in high school. That hellhole, I thought I was done with that awful place.”

By now, Lexa had a furious red tint to her cheeks as she did her best to avoid the older woman’s self-satisfied, smug brown gaze. Anya had always been the only one who had ever succeeded to pierce her cool exterior without even having to making any sort of effort whatsoever; a single look from her older cousin was enough to make the brunette a flushing mess. It wasn’t _fair_. And now, to add to her luck, it seemed like her sister had heard them as Sofia snapped her head towards her older cousin and sister with eagerness brightening her sea eyes.

“Did I hear high school and hellhole in the same sentence? If that so, you guys are totally right: it really _is_ the devil’s work. Only an establishment made by Satan himself could feature assholes like Kristopher O’Sullivan.”

Anya barked a laugh as she snapped her thumb and major finger while pointing to the brunette teenager, meanwhile Wyatt couldn’t keep from rolling his blue eyes when Sofia mentioned their braincells-deprived classmate. “AH, that’s my girl right there! You tell your nerd sister how high school is _not_ cool _at all_. We can’t all be worshipped Lacrosse captains as you were, Alexandria Jasmine.”

Lexa sassily cocked her right eyebrow, amusement swirling in greens, “You were your school’s hockey team captain for three years, An. Your teammates called you their General.”

“Well it still sucked ass.”

“Anya Rose stop speaking like a sailor in front of my fifteen-year-old sister, would you.”

“Yeah okay whatever, mom – oh look Dr. Griffin is here!”

Lexa froze.

“What, doctor Clarke is here?!”

“Man, she’s so sexy.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Wyatt was thrown a scalding glare by Lexa, who didn’t dare look back, not trusting her weak little gay heart not to implode when meeting eyes with the very object of her racing pulse. Instead, she witnessed, quite horrifyingly, as Anya’s scold slowly morphed into a devilish smirk before she leaned close to the younger Woods’ ear and lowly whispered, “Ask her out.”

Lexa stopped breathing. Asking _Clarke Griffin_ out? She couldn’t do that; she probably would go into cardiac arrest. Clarke was so sweet, and kind and smart, and she smelled so _good_. And, oh, god, she was just so breathtakingly beautiful, Lexa would be dead by the time she even reached the amazing other woman’s table. Although, she couldn’t deny that the idea alone of spending an evening with just her and Clarke, treating her to a fancy restaurant, followed by going out for a long walk on the beach and getting to know her more deeply while talking for hours on end – the simple thought of it all made butterflies the size of Mount Everest erupt in her stomach, every powerful flap of their enormous wings crashing through her like burning tsunamis. Christ, what she would give to earn the privilege of taking Clarke Griffin out on a date.

On the other hand though, she wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea; by tomorrow evening she would be back home in L.A, and she didn’t want to get attached (she already was) to the blonde, only to have to leave her and possibly never see her again afterwards. The thought made her feel pathetically depressed. The other reason why she shouldn’t get her ass up from her chair was seated not even five feet in front of her, lighten up like a Christmas tree ever since their cousin had mentioned Clarke: Sofia. From the moment they lost their mom and she became her guardian, Lexa swore to herself that she would never ever let herself put anything above her tiny little sister. Nothing mattered more than Sofia. Lexa was already struggling to keep up with everything her job demanded of her while doing the best she could to make time to devote to the younger girl, she felt like she would let Sofia down were she to add another thing to their crazed life.

But at the same time, she had been searching for God knows how long for someone who would make her feel even half as much as she had the first time her eyes landed on Clarke Griffin’s hypnotizing aquamarines. How could she pass on such an incredible woman? Lexa knew she would regret it if she left New York with the knowledge that Clarke was _right there,_ and she did absolutely nothing about it.

Though, there was also the possibility that Clarke would turn her down, that the blonde was not interested in her as the actress was. That terrified Lexa more than anything. Maybe she had read more into their earlier moment back at the competition for more than what it really was, maybe Clarke was just still shocked from her fall. Lexa has always had a very creative mind, it was entirely possible she had imagined the way the blonde had spoken to her so softly, so privately. Perhaps the stunning doctor hadn’t clutched her shoulders as tightly as the brunette vividly remembered. Her fear of rejection made her doubt her entire exchange with the other woman. Soon enough though, that fear was replaced by a feeling Lexa wasn’t completely familiar with, one which made her jaws clench strangely tight together, and she felt her nostrils oddly flaring, making the cool evening air enter more deeply in her nose. There was also an annoying burning knot that had seemed to take residence into the narrow confines of her throat, as her sister tilted her head curiously before inquiring to no one in particular,

“Who’s the beautiful brunette hugging doctor Clarke so tightly, is she her girlfriend or something? Because I don’t think just friends look at each other quite like doctor Griff and mystery woman are doing right now.”

“Lex, don’t turn around but your crush is very possibly kissing her girlfriend on the cheek as we speak,” was what Anya managed to very bluntly got out in a very poor attempt to prevent her younger cousin from seeing an unwanted sight. However, it didn’t stop Lexa for a second and, sure enough, what she saw when her green eyes spotted the blonde’s table made her bite the tender flesh inside her mouth. Though she felt herself deflate as fast as she deflected her gaze from Clarke and the other, quite beautiful looking at that, just to add to her fantastic luck, woman. Lexa swallowed with difficulty as she did her best to sound as unaffected as she could get while fixing her near empty glass of red wine, suddenly not feeling so light and bubbly anymore.

“They look happy together.”

Anya looked at the visibly upset woman for a while, their table suddenly quiet, before finally deciding to shake up her cousin by flicking her on the back of the head as she let out a disapproving tsk, making it impossibly clear that she was not at all impressed with Lexa’s defeated attitude. “Oh my god, Alexandria, could you be more dramatic, you don’t even know if blondie and that hot brunette are together. Look, I know you think you’re being all subtle and shit about your huge ass crush on doctor sexy over there, but if you really want something to ever happen between you two you’re going to have to get your head out of your ass and woman the fuck up. Now, get up and go ask her if she wants to go take a walk with you, or some other cheesy thing like that.”

Lexa was effectively silenced, her face flushed red with embarrassment because of her cousin’s monologue. The fact that the older blonde went on like that in front of both her little sister and her best friend made the actress want to dig herself a hole and never leave it again. Here she thought she had been relatively discreet about her blooming affections for Clarke. Apparently, she was not, thanks to Anya’s ever lasting frankness. Tough love had always been the older blonde’s forte, after all.

To her surprise though, as well as her horror, it was not an embarrassed look that graced her sister’s face when their gaze met, but rather a plain, unrestricted, shit-eating, knowing smirk. Was her crush truly that obvious?

“Oh Jasmine, darling, _of course_ I know about your puppy-love for doctor Clarke, I know you the best. And _of course_ I told Wy-loo about it, because he and I share _everything_. Sorry sis, I don’t make the rules.”

“That’s true, Lexa, best friends’ code. We swore an oat when we were seven and who are we to break it?”

“Um, I don’t know, actual grown ass teenagers?”

Lexa awkwardly cleared her throat, ready to die from humiliation as she learned that, not only did her fifteen-year-old sister could easily could openly read her like a book, said sister had told her also _teenaged_ best friend. Great, well that what just what she needed.

“Can you guys please tone it down for a sec? Lexa gestured in the general area of her face, which was comically getting redder by the minute, ‘About to auto-combust over here.”

“Speaking of combustion, Anya suddenly said before motioning with a jut off her chin at the doctor getting up from her seat, no trace of the mysterious brunette, your hot doctor is leaving her table as we speak, L. Now’s your chance to go after her.”

Lexa’s eyes, as well as everyone else’s, followed her cousin’s line of sight, her green orbs spotting the beautiful blonde right away, before Anya’s earlier words caught up with her and darkened her face with a crimson blush. “She’s not _my_ doctor…” Though, she would definitely be lying if she said the thought of Clarke being in any way _hers_ didn’t trigger a series of cataclysmic feels inside her entire being. But Anya was right, this was her opening, and she couldn’t waste it. So, Lexa gathered all the courage she had, inhaled as much oxygen as her lungs could possibly take, and slowly got up from her chair.

“You know what, An, I think I’m gonna do it. I’ll go ask Clarke Griffin out, right here, right now.”

“That’s my girl, the older blonde cheered while lifting her glass to the brunette, you got this Lex!”

Meanwhile, Sofia looked absolutely ecstatic, nearly screaming as she exclaimed to her sister, “Yes Jasmine, get it girl! Try not to be too much of an awkward nerd though, I like doctor Clarke.”

Lexa looked at the people at her table one more time before slowly starting to make her way where Clarke was going, “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. You guys wish me luck!”

“GO LEXA GO!”

And off Lexa was, bearing her heart on her sleeve, ready to pour out all the things Clarke Griffin made her feel. This was her chance, maybe her only one, and she would not let it go to waste, that was for sure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION EVERYONE; FEEL ALERT, I REPEAT FEEL ALERT!!! GO LEXA BABY YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!
> 
> WHAT ARE YOU GUYS THINKING? I'M FREAKING OUT:000000000


	10. Of Clexa's First Date pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the moment we have all been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to each and every one of you!! This chapter is quite shorter than what you're all used to, though part 2 will be coming shortly and I thought the wait has been long enough. Anyway, ENJOY!!!!

“Ontari!”

Clarke couldn’t believe her eyes, right there, in front of her, stood her long-term ex-girlfriend, though they were still very close, whom she hadn’t seen in what seemed like forever. Around her, the table had fallen silent, everyone surprised to see the brunette after so long, but Clarke didn’t care; she had all but forgotten about her friends the moment her eyes locked with dark browns. Seeing her ex reminded the blonde just how much she had missed her. Not in a romantic way though, they had broken up because they found they saw each other more like best friends, and it didn’t take long before Ontari, already waiting with open arms, was engulfed by a flurry of wavy blonde hair. The two tightly hugged for a few solid seconds before Clarke was the first to let go, though only to take a tiny step back to look into the other woman’s face more closely, once again feeling in awe of Ontari’s beauty as she took in the brunette’s smoky eyes, the charcoal making brown pupils appear like they were burning. God, it was so good to see her.

“I can’t believe it, what are you doing here! Didn’t you tell me you would be living in London for a few months to truly immerge yourself in the England culture to write your new book?”

Ontari slightly inclined her head to the side as she let her gaze wander freely between cobalt pools, a soft little smirk barely pulling at her lips. She, too, looked like Clarke and herself were alone in that moment, since she hadn’t even given a glance to Raven and Octavia, who she also knew for a long time and was friends with, “Yeah well, I kind of was gone for three whole months, C; my book is finished. Actually, that’s why I’m here – I’m having a business dinner with my editor to go through it and discuss about the changes I’ll have to make and all that publication crap.”

Clarke looked down, her brows furrowing lightly as a look of confusion crossed her pensive eyes, “Has it already been three months?”

The other woman replaced a stray strand of gold hair behind Clarke’s ear; she appeared a little lost at her best friend uncertainty. Clarke was not the type to just forget things like that – in fact, the girl had one of the sharpest minds Ontari had ever known - and could remember even the most insignificant details. It was thus more than a little odd that Clarke visibly didn’t keep track of her prolonged absence. Ontari decided that something must have been up with her blonde best friend, she couldn’t envision another reason why she would look so lost.

“Hun, I just told you so. Where have you been?”

Clarke shook out her weird feelings away as a sheepish smile lifted the corner of her lips, getting back to herself. She took another step forward and encircled her arms around Ontari’s neck, feeling contentment as she slowly inhaled the writer’s perfume smelling like a comforting blend of warm honey and just a little remaining of a hint of the city’s polluted air.

“Nowhere, I’m right here. It’s just been a crazy couple of last months for me in here and I didn’t realize how much I missed you until I saw you earlier. I’m so glad you’re back, ‘Tari.”

“It’s good to be home.”

The two best friends stayed like that, embracing each other, until Raven and Octavia interrupted their moment by getting up from their seats, generous cups of wine in hands, and forcefully prying Clarke away as the two rejoiced brunettes draped an arm around their small writer friend. Ontari chuckled as she squeezed her friends’ shoulders in response to their expressive welcoming, “Hi guys, it’s good to see you, too.”

For his part, Lincoln calmly rose from his chair and met the small group, taking place next to Clarke before offering the woman at the centre of attention a warm smile, which Ontari easily answered back with a genuine pull of her lips.

“Ontari, you’re back, about damn time! How was London - please tell me you hooked up with some hot English chicks for us?” Octavia bluntly asked the brunette which earned the PE teacher a little cough from Lincoln and a reprimanding flick of the finger to the back of the head from Clarke. Meanwhile, Raven clinked her glass against Octavia’s as she audibly approved the other woman’s question. She then asked while folding her left arm over her chest while bringing her cup to her lips, looking straight in Ontari’s dark eyes, “I’m sure you did not disappoint, North.”

Ontari nonchalantly shrugged, noncommittally sweeping her deep gaze between Octavia and Raven, “A girl doesn’t kiss and tell, ladies.”

“Oh please, you spent way too much time with Griffin,” Raven shifted her weight on her left hips as she sassily rested her fist on her hipbone before she threw a swift backward glance to an unimpressed Clarke, who was leaning sideways on Lincoln.

“Whatever you say, Raven, I’ll go to the bathroom, now,” the blonde in the caramel masculine coat announced before she got closer to Ontari once more and promptly kissed her on the cheek, “I’m really happy you’re back, ‘Tari, we’ll need to catch up soon.” Once Ontari answered the other woman’s gesture, Clarke turned away, kissed little Rey on the top of the head as she passed next to her, and found her way to the women’s bathroom.

 

@@@@

 

Lexa’s heart was absolutely thundering inside her ribcage. She was just outside the ladies’ washrooms, right where Clarke Griffin had just got in, and the actress could not for the life of her get her feet to step the last step forward which would lead her to the blonde doctor.

With her hand on the doorknob, Lexa reminded herself of her family’s previous encouragements and her own yearning to get to know Clarke, this beautiful woman whose smile had Lexa’s heart trampling over itself, over and over again.

And so, with these images playing on repeat in her head, the brunette regained motivation and with one last intake of breath, Lexa turned the doorknob open and entered the bathroom just as Clarke, coincidentally enough, stepped out of a stall.

Their eyes didn’t meet upon Lexa’s entrance, to the latter’s grand disappointment. In fact, Clarke didn’t even appear like she had noticed the actress’s presence, for she was engaged in what was very likely a work-related phone call, judging by the blonde’s professional tone of voice.

This situation found Lexa standing there awkwardly, waiting patiently, though she was wrecked with nerves, until the other woman was done with her phone call.

It felt like an eternity.

She didn’t know what to do with herself; too polite to disturb the ongoing conversation between Clarke and whomever was at the other end of the line by announcing her presence and not wanting to risk missing Clarke by going to the toilet, Lexa leaned on the wall to her left while trying to come up with something to say to the blue-eyed beauty.

Clarke was in the complicated process of washing her hands while squeezing her phone between the crook of her neck and her shoulder when she saw her through the large rectangular mirror above the sinks.

Blue eyes opened in shock which simultaneously morphed into a quiet joy visible in the reflection of sparkling crystallines as her phone call came to an end. Lexa’s answering smile through the glass was shy and soft; a little lopsided cornered pull of luscious lips mirroring in rich greens.

Then, Lexa took the plunge.

“Good evening, Clarke.”

Clarke’s smile grew beautifully as she turned off her phone and put it in her coat pocket, turning her body so as she completely faced Lexa. Strangely, given the place they met and the fact that the hopeful brunette seemingly deliberately went to the bathroom to see Clarke, the blonde’s reaction was entirely warm and positive, which gave Lexa the little extra push she needed in order to take the leap of faith.

“Lexa, hi! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know, I was just walking around and thought it would be nice to visit _Florence Café-Bistro_ ’s washrooms,” was Lexa’s, in her opinion completely embarrassing and pitiful, response to her own nervousness generated by the woman who occupied her thoughts ever since she first met her in Sofia’s hospital room. While to herself this lame attempt at making a joke may had been wholly terrible, Clarke, for her part, looked like Lexa’s odd sense of humour was a charm in itself, if the unabashed laugh the intern immediately rasped out was anything to go by. Of course, the precious sound alone was enough to make Lexa’s entire day.

“No, I meant what are you doing _here_ at _Florence_ , you dork,” Clarke motioned around the general space with her two hands with a teasing smile which honest-to-God nearly made Lexa melt from inside out. She could feel her cheeks warming up as it dawned on her that she had remarkably missed the sense of Clarke’s question at first, hence the awkward line she had unfortunately spoken in answer. Nevertheless, Lexa kept smiling confidently at the other woman as she leaned her lower back on the shiny marble counter, “We, Anya, my cousin, Sofia and her best friend Wyatt and I, decided to eat out to celebrate the end of a successful weekend before we fly back home tomorrow. Actually, there is another reason why I am standing next to you in _Florence_ ’s bathrooms…”, the green-eyed brunette advanced, feeling more and more anxious, her body language subtly revealing as such, for Clarke noticed her taking a sharp breath for the slightest second. Suddenly, the blonde felt her own body’s reaction in anticipation as she felt her heart rate pick up while she heard herself dumbly say, “You really needed to pee?”

Lexa chuckled nervously, pointing at Clarke with her index and thumb as she fixed her gaze on the shiny ceramic tiles, “Exactly…” The brunette then lifted her head back up just as she managed to lock eyes with the blonde, simply taking her beauty in. Clarke, on her side, stood in place looking at Lexa with a timid grin as she waited for the brunette to make her move – which could come in the next second as well as in the next decade, for how unpredictable Lexa Woods was to Clarke. Luckily for the intern though, it seemed like the gorgeous actress had decided to go all in that night, as the brunette found some courage by folding her arms at her back and making that tiny little smile at the corner of her mouth which was more a smirk than any other thing, finally speaking the words Clarke had been longing to hear since their talk at the hospital’s cafeteria.

“The truth is, Clarke, I did not come to the bathroom to pee at all – I stumbled in here because I had the luck to have decided to eat at the same restaurant at the same time as you _and_ actually see you, because I do not think it would be possible for me not to notice you in any place in the world – I am standing here before you, on a Sunday night in a New York bistro’s washrooms to formally ask you, even if we both came here with other people but does that even matter anyway, would you like to go take a walk in downtown Brooklyn with me?” Lexa assuredly proposed, her beautiful green eyes twinkling with a new sense of hope and excitement under the not-so-complimenting luminescence of the bathroom harsh white neons, though Clarke still thought Lexa was by far the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life. Lexa’s take at asking her out was so ridiculously romantic and simple Clarke felt herself becoming a puddle of feels and found that, even if the idea would not ever even cross her mind, she couldn’t ever refuse such an endearing request. So, she did the only logical thing to do next.

“Of course I’ll go walk with you, Lexa, Clarke answered as she took two steps closer and gently pried away the brunette’s hand from her back before clasping it with hers, though, if you don’t mind, there’s someone at my table I know would absolutely kill me if she knew I was with ‘ _Lexa Woods_ , _Clarke!_ ’ and didn’t introduced you to her.”

Lexa glanced down at her and Clarke’s hands so naturally held together, fully aware of the euphoric sensation it left in her nervous system whenever the blonde grazed a finger against her skin. Then, she turned her hand palm up before intertwining it with Clarke’s smaller one as she accepted whatever was asked of her, because at this point, she knew she would never be able to deny Clarke Griffin anything in the whole damn world, letting out a quiet, “Well we would not want that now, would we?” while tightening her hold on the other girl’s hand, feeling so right in hers she could not help but smiling what she was entirely certain was something that resembled Goofy’s idiotic grin. Meanwhile, Clarke freaking _winked_ at her mischievously, which in all honesty had the effect of a shot to Lexa’s poor little gay heart, as the blue-eyed beauty quickly sent a text to someone, presumably the person she wanted to present to her, “Nop, we certainly wouldn’t. Now, come, and brace yourself, someone’s waiting for you.” Clarke lightheartedly said as she led the both of them out of the bathroom, and Lexa could do nothing else but blindly follow Clarke, as she suspected she would do in just about anywhere Clarke _goddamn_ Griffin would take her, even though she had absolutely _no_ idea what was waiting for her back at the Griffin gang table.

 

 **Griff (8:06pm):** _Hey O, just wanted to let you know that I’m coming back to our table with your favorite actress, don’t thank me. Oh and, behave yourself, please. Love you <3_

 **O’ (8:06 om):** IS THAT A FUCKING DRILL????? OMG CLARKE JGVJHVJH

 

Yes, Lexa truly had no idea what kind of monster she was about to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UWUWUWUWUWWUWU<33333 THOUGHTS?

**Author's Note:**

> What do you guys think? Let me know!


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